Beach Weather
by ober22
Summary: A trip to the beach might just be what Freddie and Sam need to see each other in a whole new light.
1. A Trip to the Beach

**A/N: I don't own iCarly or 'I Feel Home'. Those honors go to Dan and OAR. This started out as a chapter of another story I was writing, but I realized I liked writing about it enough that it had to be more than a chapter or a one shot.**

_Chapter 1_

_A Trip to the Beach_

"FREDWARD!!!!!!!!"

Hearing the sound of my name, at such a loud volume jolted me awake. To make matters worse, I fell out of bed. I was laying on the floor of my room, which was hardwood by the way, and not very comfortable, when I saw a blur of yellow above me. I closed my eyes, knowing what it was, and rubbed my hands over my face.

"Sam! What do you want? It's the first day of summer vacation, and I know it's not that late. Why are you even in my room? You know how my mom feels about you picking the locks..." I opened my eyes, and sure enough, there she was, the blonde headed demon who made my life hell on a daily basis. Her signature smirk was plastered across her face, and she rolled her eyes at me.

"First of all nub, I didn't pick your lock. Your psycho mother let me in." I almost didn't believe her, knowing how my mom felt about Sam. Then I remembered the new guy my mother had started dating. He was bald, and old, but he had somehow managed to break my mother of _some _of her maniacal tendencies. The tick baths were still enforced, much to my dismay. I rolled my eyes, cursing my mom for letting her in. I propped myself up on my elbows at the same time as Sam crouched down.

"Get ready, Freddork. We're going to the beach to celebrate school being over! Get yourself together and come over to Carly's. NOW!" She started to walk away and I couldn't believe my luck; she hadn't assaulted me at all during our brief conversation, aside from making me fall out of the bed. This was almost unheard of. But then of course, she seemed to remember, and turned around, walking back towards me. She thumped me, right in the middle of my forehead, and I just closed my eyes, knowing that there were worse things she could have done to me.

"Nice Galaxy Wars pajama pants, by the way..." I opened my eyes and looked down. Of course she had to comment on them. Now she would have something else to torture me about. There was just no way I was ever going to get her to treat me like a normal human being. I was, and would always be, Fredward Benson, Nub Extraordinaire. I guess I was just going to have to learn to live with it. I knew that I should get ready, because if I didn't obey Sam's orders, she would most likely be back within minutes, this time to beat me up for real. I picked myself up off the floor, and dragged myself to the bathroom, grumbling the whole way. After I had changed from my 'nerd pajamas' into board shorts, a white t-shirt and my worn out, dependable Converse, I packed my backpack with stuff I would need for a day at the beach with Sam, Carly and Spencer. As I walked out of my room into the main part of my apartment, I couldn't help but give my mom a dirty look. Luckily she was facing away from me, because if she had seen it, it would've meant tick baths every night, and that was just something I couldn't live with.

"Mom, I'm going to the beach. I'll be back later." I heard the sharp intake of her breath as she spun around, her eyes wide.

"Freddie, you can't go to the beach! There could be jellyfish! You could get cut on a bottle!" I knew this was going to happen, but I wasn't in the mood to hear her millions of reasons for me not to go.

"Mom..." I was trying to be patient with her, but she just ignored me and kept on rambling. "MOM!" Finally, she snapped out of her state of panic and just stared at me. "Please, just listen to me. I'll be extra careful, and watch out for jellyfish, broken glass, and all other hazardous materials. I'll make sure to wait an hour after eating before I swim. I'll reapply my sunscreen every hour, and I'll text you when we're on the way home. Can I _please _go now? If I don't get to Carly's soon, Sam's gonna come after me." I regretted saying the last part, because I knew how much my mother despised Sam, and how abrasive she thought she was. After a little more negotiating with her, I managed to get out of the apartment, slamming the door behind me to prevent her from shoving her 'travel size' first aid kid out with me. Keep in mind, her travel sized kit is bigger than my backpack.

I walked into Carly and Spencer's apartment, and I found myself staring at the back half of Sam sticking out of the refrigerator, the other half of her body digging through whatever food was in there.

"Careful, Sam. I don't want a repeat of last night." She had gotten her arm stuck in the meat drawer, convinced there was a rogue slice of ham hiding from her. I know how much she loves her meat, but even I had to admit that what she had done was crazy, even for her.

"It's a good thing I found the ham, Freddison, or else you'd be knocked out right now." Her muffled voice came from the refrigerator, and she emerged with a victorious look on her face, holding a plastic bag full of ham. I sat down at the counter across from her. "Breakfast?"

"You know it dork. Mama's gotta have her meat." I couldn't help but laugh. It was so typical of Sam. "So where are the people that actually live here? And why were you rushing me so much if they aren't even ready?" Sam opened her mouth to talk, but was cut off by Carly, who had come down the stairs. She was wearing a white sundress and I could see the straps of her purple bathing suit peeking out. She had her huge bug eye sunglasses perched in her hair. Normally, that would be enough to get my blood boiling, but instead, I just had a single, fleeting thought about how she looked nice, and looked away. Weird.

"Excuse me, Freddie, but I don't want to hear your comments. I'm ready right now. As long as Spencer doesn't light anything on fire in the next five minutes, we should be ready to go soon. Sam, I hope that's the ham from the refrigerator, and not the cooler. You know how hard I worked to stock that before." Sam stared at Carly with a piece of ham hanging out of her mouth, and put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, yeah, I didn't take the ham out of the stupid cooler. I listen sometimes when you talk, Shay."

We managed to leave a few minutes later, after Spencer had come running out of his room, ready for the beach. For Spencer, being ready for the beach included a hat that looked like it was made for an episode of 'Gilligan's Island,' and a large purple blow up tube, complete with a dinosaur head, and tail. The three of us just stared at him when he came out, and Carly started to tell him how embarrassing he was, but he cut her off, saying that if we wanted a ride to the beach, we would just have to deal with his dinotube. As we left the apartment, and made our way down the stairs, I made sure that I was the last one out. I knew better than to let Sam walk behind me. I would either end up falling down the stairs, or having her throw things at me the whole way down.

We walked into the garage, and loaded our bags into Spencer's trunk. Carly sat in the passenger seat, leaving me alone in the backseat with the she-devil herself. Thankfully I had my PearPod with me, to drown out some of her nagging, but as soon as we were seated, with an empty seat in between us, she had kicked her sandals off and swung her legs out, forcefully putting them on my lap. I turned to look at her and she just stared straight back at me, daring me to say something. I looked down at her feet, wishing that she had at least kept her shoes on, and she wiggled her toes at me. I wrinkled my nose and it was all I could do not to smack her feet off my lap, but I knew that if I did that, the next thing to get smacked would be me. I sighed, knowing it was going to be a long day, and turned up my PearPod. I turned to look out the window, knowing that if I looked at Sam she would find something to tease me about, or just start hitting me to waste time.

After a few songs, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around slowly, not wanting to fall victim to the famous 'Sam Puckett Slap'. When I finally met her eyes, she motioned for me to take my headphones off, which I did, against my better judgement.

"What do you want Sam?" I was a little scared to hear her answer.

"Can I listen to your PearPod with you? I had a little incident with mine the other day, involving pickle juice." Knowing Sam, it was the truth, even though it sounded ridiculously made up.

"Uh, I guess. I don't know if the headphones are going to reach over there though." Sam moved over from the side seat to the middle seat. She was sitting Indian-style, and it was the first time I had ever seen someone sit like that in a car, but knowing Sam as long as I had, nothing surprised me anymore. I handed her one of the headphones and she took it.

"Any requests, Puckett?" She shrugged, and held her hand out. I must have looked hesitant, because she rolled her eyes at me.

"Come on, Benson, do you see any pickle juice around? I'm not going to ruin your PearPod. I just wanna see what kind of music a nerd like you listens to." I handed it to her, and she began scrolling through my songs. I have to admit that I do have quite a selection of music, about 5,000 songs. I watched her as she went through them, laughing at some. Some I could tell she was surprised at, because her eyebrow would raise slightly, and settle back down again. Finally she decided on a song, 'I Feel Home' by OAR. I was a little surprised, because she didn't seem like the type of person who would listen to something like that, but I happened to like OAR, so I wasn't about to fight her.

As the song played, she closed her eyes and started dancing. Well, whatever kind of dance you could do sitting in a car. It was more of a bopping motion. I could feel her foot tap against the side of my leg, but it was such a change from smacking and punching that I didn't even say anything about it. As the song started to wind down, she held the PearPod out to me.

"Your turn. And don't pick anything stupid, or I'll punch you." Of course she would threaten me. I must have done an okay job choosing though, because I recieved no physical harm. We went back and forth like that, Sam choosing, and then me, until we got to the beach an hour later. It was one of the few times that we had managed to be near each other without her hurting me, or me making her angry. I had to admit it was a nice change from our constant arguing, but knowing Sam, it wasn't going to last long.

**A/N: I hope the last bit wasn't too out of character for anyone. Let me know what you think! : )**


	2. The Arrival

**A/N: I don't own iCarly.**

_Chapter 2_

_The Arrival_

I had actually started to relax and enjoy myself, listening to music with Sam. For now, the threat of my next beating at her hands was the farthest thing from my mind. I usually have to keep my guard up at all times when I'm around her, because everything I do or say has the ability to set Sam off, and then I'm dead meat. We finally made our way through the busy little beach town, and pulled into the paved lot reserved for beachgoers. The lot wasn't very crowded, which I hoped meant that the beach would be similarly empty. I hate to admit it, but I've never really been a big fan of large crowds of people. I blame my mother, because some of her ridiculously neurotic tendencies had worn off on me. If I ever get to be as bad as her, I've given Sam permission to beat me senseless.

Spencer parked in the closest spot to the entrance he could find and turned the car off. He pulled the keys out of the ignition and with his usual childlike exuberance, he ran around to the trunk to retrieve his dinotube, the cooler, and the bag of sand toys and blankets.

"Come on kiddos! There's splishin' and splashin' to be done, and we're wasting time! Last one in is a rotten kumquat!" I couldn't help but laugh at him. Even though I've known him for a really long time, I still don't really understand him, or where he comes up with the insane things he says. He's definitely...unique, to say the least.

The three of us got out of the car and stretched, trying to loosen the muscles that had tightened during the hour we had spent in the car. It felt so much better to be out of the car and free to move around. I could feel a slight breeze across my face, and the strong smell that I had always associated with the beach filled my nostrils. It was a mix of salt, seaweed and sand, although I'm not sure if sand really has a smell. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing even more than I was already. I should have known that the calmness I felt was too good to be true. We had grabbed our things out of the trunk, and I was about to put my backpack on when she attacked. Before I knew it, she was on my back, and her arms were around my neck. My first thought was that I was going to die. She was going to strangle me, and I would be gone. She had come at me with such force that she would have knocked me down if I hadn't had my growth spurt during the previous school year. I silently thanked puberty for finally arriving. Sam was a tiny girl, but she had a lot of power in that little body of hers.

"Sam! What the _hell _are you doing?" She craned her neck so that I could see her face out of the corner of my eye. Her movement also caused her long blonde hair to come cascading down over my shoulder. I was momentarily distracted when the smell of her hair hit me. I'll be honest with you, I always imagined that Sam's hair would smell like bacon, or one of the many other meats she's constantly eating. It's not something I spent a lot of time thinking about, don't get me wrong. Let's just say it's crossed my mind a few times. I was definitely shocked when the smell of honeysuckle was suddenly all I could smell. Then all too soon, a hard thump to the forehead brought me right back to reality. I thought for a second about telling her that her hair smelled nice, but then I remembered that Sam wasn't like most girls, and a compliment from me would most likely lead to physical pain.

"Well, Freddo, the way I see it, you can either carry me to the beach, or I can get off your back and beat you up right here and now." Her plan had solicited a responce from Carly, who I had almost forgotten was still there.

"Sam! How many times have I told you not to jump on unsuspecting people?"

"But, Carls! It's only Fredweird." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at Sam's comment. A few years ago something like that would have gotten me all worked up and it would have started a whole war other war between Sam and I. Now I knew her well enough to know that she didn't _really _mean it. Insulting me was kind of an automatic responce for her. I had learned not to take it personally. Carly was rolling her eyes at Sam and grabbed her bag out of the trunk.

"Well, good luck Freddie!" She sounded very cheerful but I knew it was because of the sun she was planning on soaking up and not her actual concern with my well being. She turned around, walking quickly to catch up to Spencer, who was having a hard time juggling all the things he was holding because he had decided to wear the dinotube while walking instead of just carrying it like a normal person.

"Hello?? I'm waiting, Fredward." I had almost forgotten about the she devil attached to my back. I weighed my options for a minute but ultimately I realized that carrying her about a quarter mile on my back would be far better for my physical well being then the other option she had put on the table. The only thing that I was greatful for was that Sam was so little, that carrying her wasn't difficult. It was just the principle that she jumped on me without asking that I really had a problem with. I groaned and gave her my decision.

"Fine, _Princess Puckett. _I'll carry your lazy butt to the beach. But if you punch, kick, or physically harm me in any way while you're on my back, I'm..." That was the moment that I realized I had nothing to threaten her with. School was over, so I couldn't deny her my homework to copy. I would never hit her, so I couldn't play the physical violence card. She frustrated me so much! Then of course she started laughing. I could feel her entire body shaking against mine.

"You and I both know that there's nothing you'll do to me Freddork, but fine, I'll play your game, since you did let me listen to your PearPod, and you didn't pick songs that were _too _terrible." Once again she surprised me, because she never let me off the hook this easy. It was a little scary.

"Oh, um...o-okay. Just get yourself comfortable and stay that way. It'll make this a lot easier." It took us a few minutes to get situated, and Carly and Spencer hadn't waited for us. The tricky part had been convincing Sam to hold my backpack along with hers. I had finally convinced her, only after explaining that I couldn't have my backpack on my back _and _her on my back. It had cost me a punch to the shoulder because she had to get off my back for a few seconds, and stand on her own two feet. Finally we started down the sidewalk. Her arms were around my neck, thankfully not in a choking manner, and she had wrapped her legs around my waist. I had my hands around her legs, and to a passerby I'm sure it must have looked like I was just doing it to make sure she didn't fall, when the reality of the situation was that I didn't want her to be able to kick me. It was about a five minute walk to the beach from the parking lot. After about a minute, Sam leaned her head down, resting her chin on the top of my head. Her breath ruffled my hair and sent a weird chill down my spine.

"Hey Fredwardo, you're a pretty good taxi, you know. You should charge people, and just carry them places." She squeezed one of my arms and continued her speech. "You could build up some muscle, and then maybe you'd actually be able to fight back."

"First of all, I have plenty of muscle, thank you very much, and second of all, don't put ideas of me charging people into my head, when you know full well that you would never pay." We argued back and forth for the rest of the way to the beach, and suddenly the dull gray of the concrete melted into the smooth, soft golden sand. I released my arms from Sam's legs, and she slid off my back, landing with a soft thud in the sand. She pulled my backpack off her back and shoved it at my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I was hunched over, trying to breathe when I saw her hand coming at me. I panicked, because anytime Sam's hands came near me, it usually meant that I should ready myself for pain. I shrank away even more, even though I knew it wasn't a masculine thing to do. I heard Sam's soft laughter, and allowed myself to meet her eyes. She brought her hand up to my head, and ruffled my hair.

"Thanks, Freddie." I could feel my eyes widen at her gratitude, and I managed to nod once before she turned and walked away. I let out my breath and realized that I had arrived in one piece, for the most part anyways.


	3. Sand Castles

**A/N: I don't own iCarly.**

_Chapter 3_

_Sand Castles_

I hadn't realized how slow Sam and I had been in getting to the beach until I saw that Carly and Spencer had already set up a blanket in the sand. Carly was laying on the blanket with her PearPod and one of the stupid tabloid magazines she was always reading. Sam looked at me and rolled her eyes. I had to laugh because I had just been thinking about doing the same thing. We threw our backpacks down into the sand and sat down. Well, I sat down. Sam threw herself down with such force that I'm surprised we weren't hit with a tidal wave. Once again I was forced to wonder how such a small person could cause so much damage, or use so much force. It really baffled me. I took off my Converse and Sam kicked her sandals off, digging her toes violently into the warm sand. I knew from all the times we had come to the beach that she liked to do this to get to the cool sand just underneath the surface.

I was in the middle of an internal debate over whether to take a walk or listen to my PearPod when I felt an elbow in my side. Although it wasn't nearly as hard as usual, it was still enough to leave a dull, throbbing sensation just below my ribs. I turned to face that cause of all my pains and found myself looking at her wearing my sunglasses. Last I knew, they had been safe in my bag, but of course, sticky fingers had gotten a hold of them.

"You know how I feel about you going through my things, Puckett." She just rolled her eyes at me.

"Yeah, I know but come on Freddo, you have to admit it. They look like a thousand times better on me than they do on you." She lowered _my _sunglasses halfway down her face and winked at me. All I could do was just roll my eyes at her, once again. If I tried to take them from her, I could only imagine what horrible things she would do to me. Sam smirked at me, expecting me to fight back, but I knew better. I never won when I fought Sam, and right now I just wanted to enjoy my day at the beach.

"I'm not fighting with you, Sam."

"Fine, Benson. You wanna make a sandcastle?" I looked at her and narrowed my eyes.

"Sam, do you remember what happened the last time you wanted to make a sandcastle with me?" Sam closed her eyes and a smile spread slowly across her face. I knew that she was reliving our last trip to the beach, and the torture she put me through. Lets just say that I was finding sand in places that a person should never find sand for a very long time.

"That was good chiz, and you know it."

"You and I have a _very _different concept of fun. However, since it's the first beach day of the summer, I'll try and look past it and build a sandcastle with you. On the one condition that you don't turn me into the sandcastle this time." Sam considered my offer for a few seconds, and nodded. She leaned over and poked Carly, who pulled out one of her earbuds, and looked up from her tabloids.

"What Sam? Do you already want that ham you packed? I thought we agreed that you would at least _try _and save it until lunch."

"Yeah, yeah. Believe it or not, I don't want the ham. Me and Sir Nubs-a-lot are making a sandcastle. You wanna help?" Carly wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"You know I don't like playing in the sand, Sam. You guys have fun. And Sam, play nice. I still remember what happened last time, and I don't want to spend an hour digging Freddie out of a hole." Sam rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand, dragging me up off the blanket. She still had my sunglasses on, and I had to admit, they didn't look awful on her, but I was starting to see spots from the sun whenever I closed my eyes.

"Hey, Sam? Do you think that there's a chance I could get my sunglasses back?" Cue Sam laughing at me. "Fredward you should know better. Mama doesn't like to share, even if it's not my stuff." So much for that...

The small bag of sand tools, mostly pails and shovels was in the sand next to our blanket. There was about 20 feet between us and the water, and another plus of the beach not being too crowded was that it gave us a lot of room to make whatever we wanted. Sam was already frustrated before we even started, because the breeze coming off the ocean kept blowing her hair in her face. Finally she threw her hands up and screamed.

"You win, ocean! Gah!"

I couldn't help but laugh because it was just so 'Typical Sam' that it amused me. Of course, she didn't appreciate it.

"Keep laughing Freddo, and you're gonna be finding more than sand in your shorts." Her threat definitely hit home, and I stopped laughing. There was no way I was letting her near me until she cooled down. She snapped a hair tie off her wrist and plunged her hands into the massive amounts of blonde hair on her head. A few seconds later, she had miraculously wrestled her curls into a wild golden blob on top of her head. There were a few stray hairs blowing, and I couldn't help but notice how different she looked without her hair all over the place. Not a bad different. Just, different. She started emptying the sand tools out of the canvas bag, and tossed me a bucket.

"Water, Fredwardo." I stared at her, and she knew what I wanted, but I knew that I wouldn't be getting it. I could grumble and complain, but it was just easier to do what she wanted. Less painful, too. I picked myself up out of the sand and started walking towards the water, noticing the change in temperature as I got closer to the water. It was a little shock to my system as the cool water rushed over his toes. I stood there for a second, enjoying the feeling of my feet being sucked slowly into the sand, and getting used to the water. I slowly made my way into the water so that it hit me about mid shin. I wasn't ready to get too wet yet. If there was one thing I had learned while building sand castles with Sam, it was that she had a tendency to throw sand at you, and the drier you were, the less stuck to you. I dipped the pail into the salty water, and filled it up. As I turned to walk back towards Sam, she was absentmindedly sifting sand through her fingers making a small mound on her feet. It was something a child would do, but I found myself thinking that there was something peaceful about it, and Sam and peaceful didn't usually go together.

I set the bucket down next to her and sat down on the warm sand. Sam didn't say anything, even when I waved my hand in front of her face. "Hellooo? Earth to Princess Puckett...Sam? Sam!" She just kept sifting sand through her fingers. I reach out and tap her on the shoulder, and she freezes. Her hands go still and she picks her head up. She looks at me, but it's not the usual look she gives me, one filled with disgust, or accompanied by an eye roll. She looks almost...thoughtful? I'm not sure exactly what emotion is clouding her blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" She finally seems to snap out of whatever trance she's in, and shakes her head. "Yeah, Freddo, I'm awesome. A lot more awesome than you are." She's back, only I can't help but wonder what she was thinking about. She hops up onto her knees and begins digging frantically with her hands, spraying sand all over the place including straight into my eyes.

"Ah, Sam!" I know you're not supposed to rub your eyes when something gets in them, but it's just a reaction. My mother would _not _be happy, but at the moment, my eyes stung like crazy, and I was not happy. Then, Sam did something I would have never expected. All of a sudden, I felt hands on either side of my face. Her hands were really warm and smooth, and not what I expected. Maybe I was expecting cold and abrasive, like her personality to me.

"Look, I'm sorry Fredbag. Can you open your eyes?" I tried, and managed to get them most of the way open, only to find myself staring into Sam's eyes. Her nose was almost close enough to touch mine, and I was starting to feel uneasy about being this close to her. Even in my state of panic I had to admit that she did have nice eyes, and at that moment, they were exactly the same color as the sky behind her. "I'll try to get it out for you okay?" I was half expecting the pail of water to end up dumped over my head. So you can imagine my surprise when I felt a slight breeze on my face. My eyes opened wider at the thought of Sam actually helping me, and she took it to mean that the sand was out. "I think you're gonna live Freddifer. Your mom's gonna love me after that." Her hands were still on my face though, and I couldn't help but feel that same weird chill as before. This wasn't what I was supposed to be feeling around Sam. She must have realized it was weird too, because she dropped her hands and hit me lightly on the shoulder.

"Ready to make a masterpiece, Leonardo?" I had to laugh, because when we were kids, we were obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I always wanted to be Leonardo. I can't believe that she remembered it.

"As long as you're not gonna fling anymore sand at me, I think I'm ready Michelangelo." That's when Sam smiled. Not a smirk, a legitimate smile, with teeth and everything. I bet she thought I forgot.

"Cowabunga, Dude!" I laughed really hard when she screamed that, causing an old lady to shoot her a dirty look, which Sam shot right back at her.

We finally got to work on our sand castle. Sam decided that she wanted to make a drip castle. It was similar to the sifting she had been doing before, just with wet sand. We were actually working together, and even having a normal conversation, making fun of Gibby. It was a nice change from our usual bickering. And then of course, it must have gotten too normal for Sam, because she started making a drip castle on my leg. Not to be outdone, I dipped my hand in our water bucket and flicked it at her. The droplets stuck in her hair, and sparkled in the sun. I couldn't help but notice how her hair looked like pure gold, the water droplets like diamonds. At that moment, playing in the sand with Sam, she seemed to glow.


	4. Lunch

**A/N: I don't own iCarly. **

_Chapter 4_

_Lunch_

Our sandcastle was enormous by the time we were done. I had managed to escape the drip castle that Sam had made on my leg. When I flicked the water on her, she had squealed like a little pig, and hopped over me, completely wrecking her masterpiece. We worked on our drip castle for over an hour, and I know no one will believe me, but we didn't have one fight the entire time. I mean, if I weren't there, experiencing it, I wouldn't believe it myself. Sure, there were nudges, and the occasional 'dork' or 'demon' remark, but nothing any more serious than that. I was a little freaked out to be honest with you. This wasn't how Sam and I acted. It wasn't awkward, it was just _so _different that it was freaking me out. Ever since she had blown that sand out of my eye, things had been more civil. I almost wanted her to hit me, just so things would go back to normal. There is no sane reason for me to be even entertaining thoughts about Sam the way I used to with Carly. What was wrong with me? Maybe I was dying, and my brain was misfiring. That explanation would be a lot less confusing then what was going on in my head right now.

Luckily, a distraction saved me from myself. Carly walked up to us wearing only her bathing suit. Now I don't want you to start thinking that I'm some pervert. What distracted me was what she said. To be honest with you, I hadn't even realized she was only wearing her bathing suit until she had already walked away.

"Guys, Spencer's dinotube caught on fire, and he thinks now is a good time to eat." She rolled her eyes at us and I couldn't help but laugh. Sam just stared at me.

"Wanna race?" She tilted her head and I could see the beginnings of the patented Sam smirk forming. I raised an eyebrow at her, hoping I didn't look like an idiot.

"You're on." Before I could pull myself up to start running, her hand had shot out and pushed me down, right on top of our amazing castle. I was more upset about that then losing the race. I was used to losing to Sam at this point in my life. When I finally brushed the sand off me, and made it back to the blanket, Sam was already halfway through a bag of ham, and Carly was watching her with a sickened look on her face. She slowly started to drink her Peppy Cola, and forced herself to look away. As I started to dig through the large cooler, looking for something that might be safe from Sam, something slimy hit me in the face. I didn't even need to look up to know who had thrown it. I wasn't mad for some reason though. Looking down, I saw a piece of ham with a thin layer of sand on the blanket. Slowly I looked up at Sam, and her world famous smirk had spread across my face. I knew that it meant war. Without breaking eye contact, I ran my hand over the food in the cooler. Finally, my hand came in contact with a pudding cup, silently thanking Spencer for packing them. I managed to fold back the foil top, and got ready to attack. My eyes were locked on Sam's and I made sure that I didn't get lost in them like before.

"It's on," I mouthed to her, and her smile got wider, her eyes lighting up. She loved to fight, especially when it was me she was fighting. She still hadn't noticed the fact that my hand was still in the cooler and I took a moment to make sure I could make my move without getting Carly or Spencer, who was currently eating a large turkey leg. I reached into the cooler with my other hand and took a water bottle out, pulling the pudding cup out behind the cover of the bottle. I sat down next to her and placed the pudding cup next to me. I drank my water, and I could feel her staring at me, but I knew that I was going to get her, just this once. After half my water was finished, I finally looked over at her, and widened my eyes. I had a plan.

"Holy crap, Sam!" The second her eyes widened, I knew I had her. Carly and Spencer were too wrapped up in their lunches to even look up. "What, Freddie? What's wrong?"

"You've got a _huge _bug on your face." I knew that Sam hated bugs. She might have been a tough girl most of the time, but bugs just grossed her out.

"Well get it off nerd! Don't just sit there staring at it." And just like that, she had invited me to carry out my master plan.

"Okay, just hold still. Close your eyes so it won't get in." She immediately squeezed her eyes shut, and I could see her whole body tense up. It was now or never. I took a deep breath and turned the pudding cup over in my hand. A second later the thick chocolate was smeared all over her face, and her mouth dropped open. I saw her fists clench, and that's when I knew I was in trouble.

"You...better...run." The corners of her mouth began to turn up, so I knew she wasn't too mad, but still, I wasn't about to risk my life. I sprang up from the blanket, and finally Carly realized what was going on, and just shook her head at us. "Sam, please don't hurt Freddie. The nearest hospital is an hour away." Sam yelled something back to her as she ran away, but at that point I was too busy sprinting down the beach away from her to hear what it was.

I knew that she was faster than me, but I also knew that the pudding would probably make it hard for her to see. I was wrong. I made the mistake of looking back to see where she was, and the next thing I knew, she had tackled me into the sand. She was kneeling over me, her blue eyes even brighter against the deep brown of the pudding. I don't understand how I never noticed them before. I also don't understand why I keep thinking about her this way. I think I might be going insane.

"You made a _big _mistake Freddison." She reached up and dragged her finger along her cheek, collecting pudding. She stuck it in her mouth, a typical Sam move. "Such a waste of pudding, nub. Haven't I taught you anything in all the years we've been friends?" My eyes widened. She _never _called us friends. She must have realized it too, because her eyes widened to match mine.

"I mean, uh coworkers. Yeah." She ran her hand along the rest of her face, and the next thing I knew, I had a face full of pudding too. I groaned, closing my eyes, and she laughed at me. Of course my plan backfired on me. She always, always had to one up me. Then something weird happened. I opened my eyes and looked up at her, and our eyes locked. Her head tilted to the side, and she started leaning down towards me. _Oh my god, she's going to kiss me. _At that moment, I honestly didn't know what to do. A part of me, somewhere deep down wanted to kiss her. I wanted to see if those chills from before were real feelings, or just my overactive hormones. I must have been spacing out because all of a sudden I felt..._her tongue on my forehead? _She licked the pudding off of my forehead. And here I was thinking that she could be a normal girl. Obviously that's too much too ask.

She stood up, and looked down at me, holding her hand out. She was glowing again. The sun was behind her, and the spray of the sea had made her curly hair even wilder.

"Let's go swimming, Freddie." I grabbed her hand, and stood up.

"Sam, you know my mom doesn't let me go swimming until an hour after I eat," I said, knowing it would make her laugh. I wanted to make her smile, and not just that smirk she plastered on her face all the time. She rolled her eyes at me, but I had succeeded.

"God, you're a nub. Fine. Let's go hang out with Little Miss Tabloid for awhile. Mama still has some ham to finish anyways."

**Sorry it's kind of short, but things are going to get interesting in the next chapter, I promise.**


	5. Splash

**A/N: I don't own iCarly. This chapter's going to be a little different. It's going to be in Sam's POV instead of Freddie's. I originally wrote it as Freddie's POV but it just felt better as Sam's. Enjoy : )**

_Chapter 5_

_Splash_

What the chiz is wrong with me? I had just straddled the nub and licked pudding off his face. I have to admit that I was surprised that he had retaliated after I threw that piece of ham at him, but Mama always wins, and Fredweiner should know that. The pudding was still all over both of our faces as we walked back to the blanket. It was at that stage where it was beginning to dry and harden. It almost felt like one of those stupid face masks Carly was always trying to force on me, only slightly more sticky. When we reached the blanket, Carly looked up at us as we approached, and just rolled her eyes. She'd been doing that a lot today.

"Sam, what did you do to Freddie?" I opened my mouth in protest. I know that it was common knowledge that I started most of the fights between the nerd and I, but this time it wasn't my fault. Before I could tell her that, Fredweird spoke up.

"It was my fault Carly. I was just getting her back for throwing a piece of ham at me." Carly looked back and forth between her two best friends.

"I'm not sure which one I believe less. The fact that Freddie started the pudding war, or that Sam would waste perfectly good ham on Freddie." It _was_ pretty hard to imagine me throwing ham, unless it was being thrown into my mouth. I sat down on the blanket next to Carly, and Freddie sat on the other side of her. He had his thinking face on, staring out at the water. I for one never wanted to know what was going through his nerd brain. He was probably either thinking about his stupid tech stuff or Carly. It always made me feel kind of crappy that he was so obsessed with her. Now I don't want you getting it into your heads that I'm jealous of Freddie's feelings for my best friend. It's just that over the years, Carly's gotten a lot more attention from boys than I have over the years, and even though I may act tough, it'd still be nice to have a boy like me who isn't going to cheat on me, or use me just to get to Carly. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm jealous of how Freddie treats Carly, not of Freddie's actual attention.

I tried to distract myself from these thoughts, and dove back into the remainder of my lunch ham. I knew there was another pack for dinner, but I also knew that if I ate it now, there was no backup ham. For once in my life, I listened to my head instead of my stomach, which usually made my decisions for me.

At this point, Carly had gotten lost in one of her trashy romance paperbacks, which were even worse than the stupid tabloids she insists on reading. I really wanted to go swimming, even if it was with Freddork.

"Carly, lets go swimming!" She looked up at me with a bored look on her face, and motioned to her book. "Sam, you know I don't like the water. The salt makes my hair all gross." I loved Carly, but the girl was full of chiz sometimes. The point of going to the beach was to go in the water and play in the sand. Carly hated both of them. What was the point of even coming? Sitting on a blanket sunbathing and reading stupid books are just not my idea of fun. I guess my only other option was the nub.

"Has is been an hour yet, Freddison?" He rolled his eyes at me, but I knew him well enough to realize that he was probably calculating it as we spoke. Finally he looked at me and nodded. "I guess so. But if I end up with a crab in my bathing suit, or anything like that, I'm not gonna be happy."

"Oh, get over it Nubby. I'm not going to do anything to you, I just want to go swimming." He nodded and I stood up. Then something weird happened. I realized that I had a bikini on, and Freddie had never seen me in a bikini. All of a sudden I got really self-conscious, even though I usually didn't care. I didn't think I was fat or anything, it just felt odd for some reason. I purposely turned myself away from him, hoping he didn't notice the uncomfortable look I'm sure was plastered on my face. I took off my shorts and tank top, silently thanking myself for wearing one of my more modest bikinis and not anything like Carly was wearing, the bare minimum. I turned around to look at Freddie and...

_Woah, Mama! The geek's got guns! And abs? Since when does Freddie have any kind of muscle, let alone big ones? _

I was sure that my eyes were wide in their sockets and I tried hard to get them back to normal size. When had this happened? I remember squeezing his arm before and not feeling any of the muscles I'm seeing right now. I really must be losing my mind. Thankfully Freddie was looking down when I had turned around so he didn't notice me openly gawking at him.

"Ready, Puckett?" He looked up at me, and made a face that I'm sure mirrored mine. I immediately felt the color rising to my cheeks. Stupid hormones. I can't actually be thinking that Freddie has nice muscles. I'm probably hallucinating. There is no way that I will ever see Freddie as more than a nerdy techboy. Is there?

I managed to stutter out a yes, and we started to walk towards the water. I knew from experience that the water was going to be ridiculously cold, and I wasn't disappointed. We stood there at the point where the water meets the stand and let our feet sink in and Freddie dunked his hands in and brought them up to his face, trying to wipe the sticky brown mess off. I had forgotten about the pudding, along with almost everything else when I had seen Freddie. Definitely not something I had expected when Spencer woke us up this morning yelling about the beach. I had to admit though, I wasn't minding the view, even if it was just Fredward. Still, I had to shake my head, trying to get the weird thoughts out. I never in a million years thought that I would be standing at the beach, next to a very muscular Freddie, thinking these things. I snuck another peek, cursing myself out at the same time. He had managed to get most of the pudding off, except for a little bit just above his eye. I stepped in front of him, and he looked at me. I noticed that his eyes were the exact same color as the pudding on his face, only warmer. I'd never really taken the time to look at his eyes before. To tell you the truth, before today, I probably couldn't have told you what color they were, but now, staring at them, I realized that he had really nice eyes, and a nice body to go along with them.

"Hey Freddo, you missed a spot." I dipped my hand into the water and brought it up to his face, noticing that he was wincing slightly. I knew he was expecting me to hit him; it _was_ the Sam Puckett Way after all. I wasn't sure what I was thinking, but I actually brought my hand up and began to gently rub the spot on his face. His eyes closed as I did it, and I couldn't help but laugh a little, because it reminded me of Frothy when I found the right spot on his stomach. The pudding spot was finally gone, and then I realized that I should probably do something mean to him, just so he doesn't get the wrong idea. His eyes were still closed, and unsuspecting Freddie got a nice thump to the middle of the forehead. I could feel a mischievous smile spread across my face as his eyes sprung open. Then, just as fast as they had opened, they began to narrow at me. The corners of his mouth began to turn upwards into his own mischievous smile and then I realized that I might be in trouble.

"You just thumped the wrong nerd, Samantha." I cringed when he said my full name, but realized that he wanted to start something. I was game. The truth was that I loved fighting with Freddie. Now that we never took it seriously, it became our thing. It was one of my favorite things to do.

"Oh yeah, Benson? I'd like to see you try." I began backing into the water, wincing as the cold hit my body. I could feel the goose bumps spread over my body and I shivered. His grin turned playful, and I knew that deep down, he liked fighting just as much as I did. His hand shot down and the next thing I knew, I was being hit with a spray of water, soaking me. As I stood there sputtering, Freddie began to laugh. Now, it was war. He was laughing so hard that he was doubled over and his eyes were closed. Big mistake, Benson. He should know better than to let his guard down after all these years. I bent down and slammed both arms into the freezing cold water. I pulled back, and began dragging them across the surface of the water, creating an arc that hit him perfectly in the face. Mission accomplished. I watched with a smirk on my face as my wave hit him, and forced him down into the water. He landed with a splash on his butt and just looked up at me.

"Mama wins again, Fredly." His face had somewhat of a defeated look on it, as it should, but then he began to smile. I wasn't sure what was going on, but all I knew was that he was smiling like a maniac. And then I felt it. A wave had chosen that moment to crash over me, sending me flailing, right into one Mr. Fredward Benson's very muscular arms. I landed right on top of him, the lengths of our bodies touching. His arms had shot out as I fell, and were now tight on mine. I could feel his fingers digging gently into my skin, and waves of tiny shocks were traveling right through me. I felt stupid even thinking it, but it felt like what they describe in those cheesy movies. When the one you love touches you and you feel electricity, and all that nonsense. It was then I knew that it had to be wrong, because I wasn't with someone I loved, I was with Freddie. Once again I found myself shaking my head trying to get a grip. When I opened my eyes, Freddie's brown ones were once again on mine, and for a second, I lost myself. I closed my eyes, trying to control the ridiculously conflicting emotions going on in my mind.

"Hey, are you okay Sam?" My eyes popped open, and I tried to say something, but I was afraid that if I spoke, it would come out as a babble. Here I was, basically lying on top of the boy who I had spent most of my adolescent life torturing, and I'm having thoughts about feeling sparks, and his muscles. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Y-yeah, Fredweird. Thanks for breaking my fall." I hoped that my voice wasn't shaking as much as I was. I managed to roll myself off him and sit on the ocean floor next to him. Our bodies were touching, side to side, from shoulder to leg. I could still feel the sparks, and I could feel Freddie's eyes on me, but I wouldn't allow myself to look at him.

_Get a grip, Puckett. This is Freddie Benson, not Shane or Pete, or anyone remotely attractive. This is your nerdy 'friend' who's in love with your best friend. You don't feel sparks. It's probably just the nerd germs digging into your skin. _

Yeah, that was it. Nerd germs. It had to be.


	6. Walking with Sam

**A/N: I don't own iCarly. Back to Freddie's POV. This chapter's going to be a little longer. I also have to admit that Freddie and Sam are going to be a little out of character, but I hope no one minds : )**

_Chapter 6_

_Walking with Sam_

Ever since we decided to go swimming, Sam's been acting weird. I swear I saw her blush before. That's just not something she does. When she fell into me, those weird feelings I had from before came back times a hundred. I'll admit that I was a little disappointed when she rolled off me, but when she sat down we were still touching, and I felt like the skin on the left side of my body was on fire. I never expected to be feeling something like this with the girl who's favorite hobby was making my life hell. I snuck a peak at her, and she was just staring out at the water. She was beautiful, I couldn't take that away for her. I guess I've just always been distracted by her punches and abuse that I never just looked at her. I leaned back and propped myself up with my arms. Sam had curled herself up, hugging her knees to her chest, and she looked more innocent in that moment then I had ever seen her. It was weird thinking of Sam as innocent and beautiful. She had always been spunky and full of fire. This side of her made me more nervous than anything.

As I sat there looking at her, she still had a small streak of pudding running down her cheek. I wasn't sure what physical punishment she would dish out if I tried to wipe it off.

"Uh, Sam? You still have some pudding on your face." She dragged her eyes away from the ocean and looked at me. I pointed to it on her face, making sure not to touch her. She got an impatient look on her face.

"Well are you going to get it off for me nerd?" I had to squeeze my mouth shut to make sure my jaw didn't drop. She was actually asking me to touch her? Today really was crazy. I took a deep breath and closed the gap between my finger and her cheek, and wiped the pudding off. Her cheek got a little pink, and I realized that she was blushing again. I dropped my hand and she swung her eyes back to the water. "Thanks, Freddo," she mumbled, and all I could do was nod. There was definitely something weird going on. We sat there for a few more minutes, and then I felt her shiver. The water was pretty cold, but I had been so lost in my thoughts that I had become numb to it.

"You okay?" She nodded, but at the same time, she was rubbing her arms. I nudged her with my elbow, not hard though, just enough to get her attention.

"Wanna go for a walk?" She looked at me like I was crazy, and then remembered that she was the laziest person in the world. I wasn't ready to go back to the way we were at home though. I wanted some more Freddie and Sam time. "Come on, Sam. You can get on my back again if you want. You'll be warmer if you get out of the water." She thought about it for a few seconds and nodded.

"Okay Frederly. Let's do this." I stood up, and offered her my hand. Surprisingly, she took it without yanking me back down into the water. As we walked back to the sand, I was bracing myself for her to slam herself onto my back, but when it didn't come, I looked down at her, and she was just walking beside me.

"Ready?" She looked a little lost for a second, but quickly recovered and nodded at me. I bent down a little and she climbed on my back, about a thousand times more gently than she had that morning. My body was almost humming when she wrapped her arms around me. My hands were on her legs again, but this time it really was just to keep her from sliding off. Was it possible that things had changed between us so much since this morning that she wasn't even thinking about jumping on me or kicking me or anything like that? I really wasn't sure. After a few seconds, I realized that we were still standing still, and I turned my head a little.

"Where do you wanna walk?" I felt her shrug against me, and she put her chin on the top of my head. "I don't know Fredwardo, surprise me." I could feel the vibration from her voice traveling through me, and it made me shiver a little. Hopefully I could pass it off as just being cold. I surveyed the beach, and realized that walking one way would lead us into the families with little kids, while the other was pretty empty and there were small tidepools scattered around. I made the choice to walk away from the crowds and towards the tidepools. They would be warmer than the ocean and Sam could always warm up there. As we started to walk, I came to the conclusion that today was really a perfect day for the beach. I could feel the sun on me, and the sand was warm underneath my feet, but not to the point where it was burning. Being with Sam wasn't too bad either. We walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Can I get down, Freddie?" I was so shocked by her use of my actual name that I almost dropped her. That definitely would've broken her out of whatever mood she was in. I released her legs and she hopped off my back. "Did you wanna go back Sam?" I figured walking was too boring for her. She was probably due for some ham or a beating.

"No, I-I don't want to go back yet, I just figured I was getting heavy."

"Sam, you weigh like nothing, which is surprising seeing how much ham you eat everyday." I smirked at her, and she hit my arm, but it wasn't nearly as hard as I was expecting. "Funny, nerd." She smiled though, and I knew that I hadn't hurt her feelings.

The tidepools were warm like I expected, and we walked through them slowly, splashing each other with our feet. We were walking close enough to feel the heat of each others bodies, but not close enough to touch. Sam stopped walking in the middle of one of the tidepools and bent down. She picked up a shell and kept walking. I watched her out of the corner of my eye and she was just flipping it over and over in her hand. It was a very calm movement, almost like when she had been sifting the sand before. After we walked a little more, she tugged on my arm, and sat down with her feet in the tidepool. I sat down next to her, purposely sitting close to her. I needed to feel those sparks again, even if I was the only one feeling them.

"Hey, Freddie?" This was the second time she had called me Freddie in five minutes. I was starting to get suspicious. I looked at her, and she had that look in her eyes again, the one I didn't recognize. "Yeah, Sam?" I really had no idea what she was going to say. Usually it was an insult of some sort, but this felt different.

"Do you hate me?" I definitely wasn't expecting that. I looked at her, and she was still playing with the shell she had found, her feet swirling lightly through the warm water.

"What? Of course I don't hate you Sam. Why would you even think that?"

"Well I don't know, I mean, why else do we fight all the time? It's stupid just forget it." I didn't want to forget it though, especially not after what I'd been thinking today. Did she honestly think I hated her?

"Sam...I don't hate you. You're my best friend." It was the first time I had come right out and say it, but over the years our fighting had really brought us together. Especially after that kiss. It wasn't that I started to like Sam after the kiss, but things between us just seemed less volatile afterwards. She looked up at me and she was smiling. "_Best_ friend? I thought Carly was your best friend?"

"I don't know, I mean I guess I consider you both my best friends, but sometimes I guess I'd rather hang out with you instead of Carly. Like today, I'm really glad you're here, because Carly hasn't been much fun." I smiled at her. I wanted her to know that I really meant it.

"Thanks, Freddo."

We ended up sitting in the sand with our feet in the tidepool for another half hour before Sam started splashing me with the warm water. Of course that had started a whole other splashing war, and I'm sure if anyone was watching they probably thought we were psychotic. I realized that I had no idea what time it was, but Sam started to get hungry, and I wasn't about to deal with the wrath of her stomach. We decided to head back to Carly and Spencer, who we hadn't seen most of the day, even though we'd come with them. Sam took it upon herself to jump onto my back again, this time not worrying about being too heavy or not. She spent the whole walk back to the blanket ruffling my hair. I didn't fight her about it, because her fingers felt nice on my head. It was a feeling that I can only compare to PopRocks. It was like I was buzzing, and I liked it.

**Let me know what you think : )**


	7. Sharing Ham and Another Walk

**A/N: I don't own iCarly.**

_Chapter 7  
Sharing Ham and Another Walk_

As soon as the blanket came into sight, Sam dropped her hands from my hair, and slid off my back, and as she fell gracefully into the sand, my heart fell down to my feet. The buzzing I had been feeling was still there, but it wasn't as strong as it had been when she was touching me. I was starting to crave that feeling. I had to find some way to touch her, even if it meant she was hitting me. When we got to the blanket, Carly was asleep with her PearPod playing, and Spencer was busy building a sand sculpture in the shape of a Llama. It looked like the one he had bought when we were having a 'fight' with Fred. I watched him for a moment, realizing how much he really did remind me of a child. He stood there, knee deep in sand, constructing a life size llama with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. I was thankful that sand didn't catch on fire, because with Spencer's luck, nothing was safe. Sam walked up to him and got really close to his ear.

"Spencer, where's the ham?" She yelled straight into his ear at almost her top volume, but he was so involved in his llama that he didn't even flinch, let alone yell and flop onto the sand as Sam had been hoping for. She looked up and just shook her head at me. I had to smile at her reaction as well as Spencer's lack of reaction. She started to walk towards the cooler and I knew that Spencer had gotten off lucky. If that had been me, I would have at least gotten a thump. Oddly enough I would have gladly taken a thump from her at that point. I felt almost cold from being farther away from her, and it wasn't because of the water.

Sam was digging through the cooler at that point, and finally with a triumphant yell she emerged with a small plastic bag of ham. "Mama wins again..." I heard her mutter under her breath, and I couldn't help but laugh. She looked up at me through her massive amounts of hair, and once again I could see a little bit of pink in her cheeks. She smiled and shrugged at me, and I had to wonder. Had she maybe been feeling the same things I'd been feeling all day? No way. This is Sam Puckett I'm talking about. She thinks I'm a nub, and a big one.

I sat down on the part of the blanket that Carly wasn't occupying. Sam was so happy with her ham that she was humming. She plopped down next to me, and somehow I got lucky. She sat right next to me, her entire side touching mine. I looked over at her, and once again, she had managed to get a hold of my sunglasses. I rolled my eyes, but decided that I might as well just let her wear them.

"Nice shades, Princess Puckett." She took a breather from her ham and smiled at me, her entire face scrunching up. "I know, Freddo. I make these look good. You should probably let me have them."

"Yeah, I'll think about it..." She looked back down at her ham, and back up at me, and lifted the bag slowly towards me.

"Want some?" If I had been shocked by her asking if I hated her before, I'm surprised that this question didn't cause me to go into a coma or something equally as severe. For a few seconds I couldn't even talk. I just stared at her, thankful that she had my sunglasses on and I couldn't see her eyes.

"Y-you want to give me some ham? I have _never _seen you share your ham with anyone willingly Sam. Are you sick? Do you have a fever?" I raised my hand to press it to her forehead, proud of myself for thinking of a way to touch her. She gave me one of her famous looks, but didn't try to move my hand. Not wanting to press my luck, I brought my hand down and leaned forward to play with the sand in front of me.

"Don't get all smart with me, Benson. Do you want some ham or not? This is a one time offer."

"No, thanks. I'm not feeling very hammy right now."

"Good. More ham for Mama." It was silent for a couple minutes, as Sam resumed her humming/ham consumption. I was digging my heels into the sand, looking for the cool sand, and thinking about everything that had happened so far today. I reached behind me into my backpack to check the time, and it was only 2 in the afternoon. Today felt like it should be over soon. I certainly didn't want it to though, especially if Sam was going to keep acting like this.

"Hey, Fredamame? You wanna take another walk?"

"Now I'm really starting to think you're sick, Sam. First sharing your ham and now suggesting more physical activity? Or do you just want another nubby back ride?" She rolled her eyes at my question, but shrugged.

"I guess I figure it's like you said before. If Carly's not going to be any fun, I might as well have fun with my other best friend." My eyes almost popped out of my head at that. Sam Puckett called me her best friend. Her _best _friend. She shoved me a little and I fell over in the sand, as she hopped up to her feet.

"Stop being a nub, and walk with me, nerd." That sounded more like the Sam I knew. She held out her hand for me, and I took it. A spark shot down my arm as her hand grasped mine. I tried hard not to react to it, because I knew that if Sam found out what I was thinking she would kick the crap out of me. I got up and we made a silent decision to resume our walk the same way we had just come from. Even though it wasn't that late yet, it was even less crowded than before Sam's ham break. We were walking for a little while, in another comfortable silence, when I felt Sam's hand on my arm. I turned towards her, looking down at her. It's always funny to me now that I'm so much taller than Sam. I remember back when we started iCarly, she was taller than me. Thank you puberty, even if you were a little late.

"What's up?" A mischievous grin spread across her face.

"Tick Bath or Antibacterial Underpants?" I had to laugh. We hadn't played 'This or That' in a really long time. It used to be one of mine and Sam's favorite games to play.

"Antibacterial Underpants, definitely. Less embarrassing. Ham or Bacon?" I smiled, knowing that for Sam choosing between them would be hard.

"Ham. I could always stick it in a pan and pretend it's bacon."

"Touche."

"A date with Carly, or...or a day at the beach with me?" She looked up at me expectantly, and I knew she thought that she already knew the answer.

_This is it Freddie. You can be a jerk, and tell her what you think she's expecting, or you can take the leap and hope she doesn't kill you. It might be awkward if you tell her, but if you lie, you might hurt her and ruin any chance that you may or may not have with her. _

Why was it that today had opened my eyes to Sam Puckett, and how she really wasn't a blonde headed demon at all? Why did my life always find new ways to complicate itself? I guess I'll never know. We had unconsciously stopped walking at that point. She was staring up at me, and I brought my eyes down to meet her's, once again very thankful for the sunglasses. If I had been able to see her amazing eyes, I think I might have just melted. There was no easy way to choose, but somehow I did.

"I'd have to choose, uh-"

**Cliffy! I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it! The next chapter will most likely be up tomorrow, so I won't keep you waiting too long. Hope you liked it : )**


	8. Confessions

**A/N: I don't own iCarly. Thanks for all your reviews everyone! This chapter's kind of out of character, but I feel like this whole story has been a little out of character, so hopefully you won't hold it against me!**

_Chapter 8_

_Confession _

_"I'd have to choose, uh-"_

What was I going to do? I couldn't look at her face when I told her my answer. I didn't want to see her reaction, because I knew that it probably wasn't going to be kind. I looked down at my feet, and started digging into the sand with my toes. Here goes nothing.

"I'd choose you, Sam. Any day." I sucked a breath in, waited for her laughter to hit my ears. I'm not sure how long I had been staring at my feet, but I realized that she hadn't said anything, and she wasn't laughing. I snuck a peak at her, and she was just staring at me.

"Sam?" She looked almost frozen, and I wasn't exactly sure what she was looking at. I reached up and took the sunglasses off her face, and placed them in her hair. I took another deep breath in and forced myself to look into her eyes. They were wide and bright, and I wasn't sure but they almost looked watery.

"Princess Puckett?" I allowed myself to touch her cheek, trying to break her out of whatever trance she was in. The contact was enough to bring her back to reality. She finally blinked, and shook her head. She looked back to normal, although paler than before, and she looked up at me.

"D-do you really mean that, Freddie?" I knew she had to be serious if she was calling me Freddie. I wasn't sure if that meant she felt the same way about me or not, but at least I knew she wasn't joking.

"Of course I meant it, Sam. I wouldn't lie about that."

"But, y-you love Carly..." I just shrugged and shook my head. At that moment, I knew what I had to do. I had to tell her exactly how I felt, even if it meant that she was going to hurt me. It would be worth it. I sat down where I was standing, right in the sand, thankful that we weren't standing in the middle of a tidepool. After a few seconds, Sam sat down across from me. Her knees were touching mine, and the buzzing was back. However faint it was, I was still glad to feel it. I leaned back, propping myself up with my hands, and Sam started twisting a strand of her long hair around her finger. We sat in silence for a little while, I'm not sure exactly how long. I was trying to get my mind around what I was about to tell her. It had the ability to tear our frienship apart, but I hoped that it wouldn't. I looked up at her, and the sun was shining behind her. Slits of light shone through the breaks in her curls, and once again she was glowing. She was staring out at the water again, but this time, her face was scrunched up. I let everything but her and what I was going to say leave my mind. I needed to tell her what I had realized today.

"Hey." She pried her eyes away from the water, and looked at me. I knew that if I was going to do this, I had to see her eyes. I reached up and took off her sunglasses, and folded them up. I hung them on the collar of my t-shirt, and stuck my fingers deep into the warm sand. "Are you okay?"

She just nodded, but she wouldn't look at me.

"Am I that ugly that you can't look at me, Demon?" I needed to see her eyes, and know that she would hear everything that I was saying. Finally she looked at me, and for a second I lost myself in her eyes. One corner of her mouth turned up a little, almost her trademark smirk, but something was different. "You're not so bad...for a nub."

"Can I, um, tell you something?" She nodded, and I took one final breath before I let loose the words I hoped would make sense.

"Okay. Here's the thing. I don't like Carly anymore. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, and I'm not sure if I ever really liked her, or if it was just because she was always so nice to me. You're so different from her Sam." I watched as Sam's face fell, but I wasn't finished. "I'm not saying that's a bad thing though. That's a really good thing. You're not the kind of girl who goes to the beach to lay on a blanket and get a tan. You're the kind of girl who actually wants to do things. You aren't afraid to get dirty, you're _definitely _not afraid to tell people what you really think. If it weren't for you, I would have been sitting on that blanket all day, trying to entertain myself with my PearPod. You're the funniest person I know, you're beautiful, and no one messes with me when you're around. Maybe that's because you're usually messing with me, but why would you just want to be nice when you could be all of that?" I know it sounds cheesy, but I felt a little weight lift off me now that I had told her what I had been thinking about all day.

I was a little scared to look at her after telling her all that, but before I could look up, she started to talk.

"Wow, nub. You sounded like one of those stupid movies that Carly makes us watch all the time." My heart dropped for the second time that day, and once again, it was the blonde headed demon's fault. "Whatever, Sam. Just forget it I guess." I handed her my sunglasses, knowing that she would try and steal them soon anyways, and picked my self up off the sand. I should have known that Sam wouldn't just change like that. It was stupid to think she would, and even stupider to think that I might have had feelings for her.


	9. Mistakes

**A/N: I don't own iCarly. First half of the chapter in Sam's POV, second in Freddie's. Going to be OOC, but in a good way. At least I hope so.  
**  
_Chapter 9  
Mistakes_

_"Okay. Here's the thing. I don't like Carly anymore. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, and I'm not sure if I ever really liked her, or if it was just because she was always so nice to me. You're so different from her Sam. I'm not saying that's a bad thing though. That's a really good thing. You're not the kind of girl who goes to the beach to lay on a blanket and get a tan. You're the kind of girl who actually wants to do things. You aren't afraid to get dirty, you're definitely not afraid to tell people what you really think. If it weren't for you, I would have been sitting on that blanket all day, trying to entertain myself with my PearPod. You're the funniest person I know, you're beautiful, and no one messes with me when you're around. Maybe that's because you're usually messing with me, but why would you just want to be nice when you could be all of that?"_

I'm so stupid. I completely ruined everything. Freddie and I hadn't fought all day. He was right. If we hadn't been playing around all day, I would have been bored out of my mind. I was still sitting in the sand as I watched him walk away from me. His shoulders were slumped, and he was dragging his feet along the sand. No wonder all the boys liked Carly better. She wasn't abrasive. She didn't hurt people who cared about her. She didn't hurt her best friends. Maybe that's why I had said that. He told me I was his best friend. That's when this whole thing had started getting weird.

I looked down at the sunglasses in my hand, and realized just how much of an idiot I was. He had spent the day making sure I was happy. He had carried me all around, he had kept me company, he had spilled his heart out to me, all about how great he thought I was. I couldn't even say thank you. I just insulted him again. Everytime he tried to get closer to me I found a reason to push myself farther away. Because he was a guy, I automatically assumed that he would hurt me, or that he was lying. That's where I was wrong. He was the one guy who had never hurt me, besides Spencer, and I had been too blind and stupid to let myself trust him. He had told me that he didn't like Carly anymore. She was always the one I had compared myself to, because she was usually the one who my boyfriends wanted to be with. It wasn't her fault, and it wasn't fair, that's just how I've always seen it. She always gets the guy, and I always get hurt. Now I was the one doing the hurting.

Maybe it was something else, some other reason that I was afraid to accept Freddie's words. Today had been weird. I'd been thinking things about Freddie that I never would have thought I would. It wasn't just because I had realized today that he had a nice body, and amazing eyes. Sure, I was shallow, but I wasn't that shallow. I started to think about what he had said to me.

_I don't like Carly anymore. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, and I'm not sure if I ever really liked her, or if it was just because she was always so nice to me. You're so different from her Sam. I'm not saying that's a bad thing though. That's a really good thing._  
Was I supposed to believe that me being mean to him was something he liked? Did that mean he liked me?

_You aren't afraid to get dirty, you're definitely not afraid to tell people what you really think. _  
I never looked at being opinionated or messy as being a good thing, but apparently he thought it was.

_You're the funniest person I know, you're beautiful, and no one messes with me when you're around. Maybe that's because you're usually messing with me, but why would you just want to be nice when you could be all of that?_  
He had said I was beautiful. He was the first boy who had ever called me beautiful. Maybe he was just getting caught up in the moment, but maybe he really meant it. He really thought that being rude, mean and hurting him was better than being nice? Maybe I had hit the boy one too many times. Or maybe he could just see past everything, and he knew that I wasn't really a monster at all.

At that point, I had managed to confuse myself to the point of no return. All I knew was that Freddie didn't deserve what I had done. I had to find a way to make everything better. That's when it hit me. I stood up, put his sunglasses on, and scanned the beach, searching for him. Finally, I saw him at the edge of the water farther down the beach, and I started running.

* * *

I knew it was childish to walk away from her, but what else was I supposed to do? I was trying to be honest. I was trying to tell her how I felt about her, without actually telling her. I guess it was too much for her to deal with. Maybe I just wasn't the guy who she wanted to hear it from. Besides, how could I expect her to feel the things I'd been feeling when I had just started feeling them today?

It was stupid of me to say all that stuff anyways. At least she spared a little bit of my feelings and didn't laugh in my face. She was probably laughing now for all I knew, but there was nothing I could do to stop her. She was her own person, and she had never followed anyone's rules anyways.

I guess I really was a nub. I was stupid to think that maybe the great day that we'd had so far had meant something to her. It was stupid to think that someone like her would ever feel anything other than disgust or anger towards me. She was just so much better than me in every way, but she didn't know it. That's what I was most mad about. Everything I said about her I meant, and I could tell that she just didn't believe it. Maybe that was the solution. Maybe I just had to make her believe what I already knew to be true. I just needed to her listen. I sat down in the sand, trying to get my thoughts together, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, when I heard someone say my name. I turned around and there she was, out of breath and panting, standing in front of me.

**I really don't know how I feel about this chapter, it was hard for me to write, and I rewrote it about 5 times. I'm still not happy with it, but hopefully you won't hate it too much.**


	10. Apologies and Realization

**A/N: I don't own iCarly or The Notebook. Back to being in Freddie's POV.**

_Chapter 10_

_Apologies and Realizations_

_I turned around and there she was, out of breath and panting, standing in front of me._

I wasn't really sure what to say to her at that point, and she was too out of breath to talk, so we just stayed where we were for the time being, me sitting in the sand, her bent over, clutching her side and breathing heavily. Her face was pink, and I knew I shouldn't be thinking like this after the way she reacted, but it made her look even prettier than she already was. It reminded me of when we fight. It's the only time she gets really passionate about anything besides ham. A part of me is hoping that her actions mean something, but it's probably just another thing I'm wrong about.

After another minute, she finally stood up straight, though only for a second, and then she was in the sand across from me. Once again our knees were touching, and I couldn't help but wonder why she was sitting this close to me, if all I was to her was a stupid nub. We still hadn't said anything. We were just sitting there, as if the whole situation had never happened. She had my sunglasses on, and I couldn't see her eyes. Finally she picked her head up and said three words I never expected her to say.

"I'm sorry, Freddie." My head shot up, not believing my ears. The only other time in my life that Sam had apologized to me was right before we had kissed. That didn't help, because now I was thinking about kissing Sam, and I knew that if I even tried to do that, I would just be digging the hole I was in even deeper. I know how hard it is for Sam to apologize, so I sucked up my pride, and accepted her apology.

"It's fine. I know how stupid I must have sounded. I don't blame you for reacting how you did. I'm sorry, too." I shrugged, not knowing what else to say. Sam listened, but then started shaking her head.

"Freddie, I don't want you to be sorry. All you did was be you. Your sweet, nubby little self. You can't help it that you're naturally a dork." I couldn't help but smirk, because I knew that it was her way of being nice. "I just overreacted, because I was scared."

"I don't understand, Sammy. Why are you scared?" I couldn't think of any reason for her to be afraid. I hadn't threatened her or anything.

"Well, it's a stupid reason, Freddifer. It's just that," she paused and I can see her struggling to get her words out, to get the words right.

Watching her, I realize that what I said about her before doesn't even begin to describe how I really feel about her, and how amazing she really is. It's at that moment that I realize how stupid I've been all these years. I've been so busy chasing perfection in the form of Carly that I never stopped to realize how truly perfect Sam's imperfection were. Carly and I were so alike that it was boring. We never fought, we always agreed on things. With Sam, it was different. We fought, but it was always interesting. With her, I never knew what to expect, which side of her was going to show up. I hate to admit it, but it reminds me of 'The Notebook.' Not very manly of me to know this, but my two best friends are girls, and over the years I've been forced to watch my fair share of chick flicks.

_"They didn't agree on much. In fact, they didn't agree on anything. They fought all the time and challenged each other ever day. But despite their differences, they had one important thing in common. They were crazy about each other."_

Thinking about it, the beginning did remind me of Sam and I. Not that I was following her around asking her to go out with me; she would kill me if I tried that. I'm definitely not declaring my everlasting love for the blonde headed demon either. It just kind of makes sense to me. As I was thinking about this crazy theory, her voice brought me back to reality.

"It's just that I'm not used to people saying nice things like that to me, Freddie. I'm used to hearing how I'm a _'blonde headed demon',_" she smirked at me before she went on. "And that I'm abrasive. I'm used to guys choosing Carly over me, and I'm used to guys hurting me." I started feeling guilty again, knowing that I was guilty of that myself, and had been for so long.

"I didn't mean to say it like that Freddie. I just, I was stupid and I lumped you in with all the other guys I know, but you're so different. You and Spencer are the only guys in my life that have never hurt me, and I just, I got scared, because I don't want to get hurt anymore." Her cheeks were red at this point, and I knew that if I lifted the glasses, her eyes would be too. Maybe if I said the right thing, and tried not to make it too nerdy, I could tell her how I felt, and make her see how amazing I really thought she was.

"Sammy, I would never hurt you. I promise." I put my hand out, and extended my pinky. She looked at it for a second, and mirrored my hand, lopping her small finger with mine. She smiled, a real smile, not her signature smirk, and our hands lowered, fingers still connected. I couldn't help but feel that same strange thrill traveling through me, and I hoped that it meant something, the fact that she hadn't let go either.

"Here's the thing, Puckett. Today's been weird. I've been thinking a lot, and I feel like today's been different, but in a good way. This is the first time that we've ever gone longer than an hour without having a fight. We've been getting along all day, except for the ugliness a little while ago. I don't know how to say this any other way, but I really like it. Today's been one of the best days I've ever had, and it's all because of you." That's when she punched me. Normally I would be offended, but I knew that it meant something else, something that she just couldn't find the words for. She was smiling still, so I figured I hadn't freaked her out too badly.

"You're the biggest dork ever, Fredward, but in a good way. And I know I don't say it a lot, but I'm really glad we're friends. Maybe we fight a lot, but sometimes fighting leads to something more. Sometimes it means more than just nasty words and bruises." When I heard her say that, my brain felt like it was going to explode. This was one of those times I wish I could read Sam's mind. I wish she would just tell me what she really meant, instead of skirting around the issues. Sure I was guilty of doing the same thing, not telling her what I was really thinking, but I figured I had only done it out of self preservation, and the fact that I didn't want to get my ass kicked. I needed to know what she really meant, so finally I plucked up my courage and just asked.

"Leads to what, Sam?" She looked up at me, and tilted her head to the side a little. Her hair fell across her face, and it took all the courage I had not to reach up and push it back.

"I don't know. Friendship?" My heart sank a little, and I let my head drop, pretending to be focused on something in the sand. Friendship. Not what I was hoping to hear. "And maybe sometimes, it leads to more than that." My head snapped up, and I tried to keep my breathing steady, and prevent the blood from rushing to my face.

"Oh. W-well I guess so." I had no idea what to say, or where to go from there. I could tell her what I'd been feeling, but if she had just been speaking metaphorically, I would look like an idiot. I had to wait, and hope that she was feeling the things I was.

"Why do you think we fight all the time, Freddie?" That was the second time she had asked me that. "I don't know. Maybe it's just our way of dealing with each other. Maybe it's something else."

"Something else? Like, more than friends?" I could only shrug, because my throat had gone dry and I knew that if I tried to speak, I'd sound like a bumbling, stuttering idiot. I cleared my throat a few times, and finally managed to mutter some kind of answer, which I hoped would pass for a maybe.

"Yeah. Maybe it does. Maybe we're just freaks, Freddo." We laughed a little, and then she jumped. I heard a faint buzzing, and she dug her hand into her pocket, producing her phone. She read the text out loud.

_'where r u guys? spencer wants to eat dinner before the fireworks start, and i know how you get when you miss a meal sam. i hope freddies still alive. come back to the blanket!'_

Her eyes lit up as she read about eating and dinner. She quickly texted something back and put her phone back in her pocket.

"I guess Princess Tabloid woke up from her coma." We rolled our eyes, knowing that we hadn't finished our conversation, but I felt like we had come to a point where it would be okay to stop talking for a little bit; at least until Sam got food in her stomach anyways. She jumped up and brushed the sand off herself, sticking her hand out for me to grab. As our hands met, I felt the strange electric sensation shoot through me, warming me from the inside out. Sam wrinkled her nose a little, and I couldn't help but think that maybe she really was feeling what I was. I wanted to stay on her good side, especially after our talk, so I bent down a little. Sam smiled and ran around me, hopping on my back.

The walk back to the blanket, which wasn't as far as I thought it would be, was eventful. Sam joked around, pretending that I was a horse, and calling me Sir Nubs-a-Lot. Her arms were around my neck, and at one point I looked down at her hands. I realized that for someone who was so violent she had really small, delicate hands. Before today, it never would've seemed fitting, but right now, at the beach, it fit.


	11. Dinner and Ice Cream

**A/N: I don't own iCarly.**

_Chapter 11_

_Dinner and Ice Cream_

We were laughing when we reached the blanket, Sam still on my back. Carly didn't have her bug eye sunglasses on anymore. Instead it was her own eyes that were wide. Her head tilted, and then her eyes narrowed.

"What's going on? Did you drug him or something, Sam?" Sam took that opportunity to hop off my back and shrug.

"Nah. I'm just so ridiculously funny and charming that even the nerd can't help himself." Carly's eyes got even narrower, and she got up off the blanket she had spent the entire day on. She grabbed my arm and pulled me aside, a little harder than she probably needed to. It reminded me a little of how Sam usually acted, and I had to smile.

"What's up, Carly?"

"Did she hurt you Freddie? Did she brainwash you?" I knew she was trying to whisper but she was just yelling quietly. I heard Sam laughing behind us, and my smile got wider.

"No, I'm not hurt or brainwashed or anything." I spun around with my arms out, so she could see that I wasn't hiding any bruises or cuts or anything. "The only chip I have is the one my mom had planted in me, I promise." That made Carly laugh, and she nodded, accepting my words, but I could tell that she was still suspicious. We walked back to where Sam was talking to Spencer, and from the way he was motioning I could tell he was describing the dinotube disaster. She was laying down on her stomach, her head propped up on her hands, her hair falling in front of her face, and my mind drifted back to what I had been thinking all day, and it made me smile knowing that she just might feel the way I do. As we got back, she looked up at us and smiled, and it took all I had not to melt into a stupid puddle of nerd.

Spencer finished his story, making us all laugh as he told about the demise of his toy. It only took Sam a few seconds after that to remember why we had come back to the blanket in the first place. She hopped up and stared at Carly.

"Where's the grub, Carls? Mama's hungry!" Carly, Spencer and I rolled our eyes at each other, laughing at her bluntness. It really was true that with Sam, things were never boring. Carly walked over to the cooler and began dragging things out. It looked as if Carly had packed enough food for an army, when really it was mostly for the small blonde girl next to me. Sam got to work on her bag of dinner ham, along with some Pepi Cola and low-fat Fat Cakes. It was a classic Sam meal, and there was a sparkle in her blue eyes as she shoveled the food into her mouth, barely stopping for a breath. I couldn't help but laugh, knowing that there really was no one else like Sam. She finally looked up from her ham and rolled her eyes at me, but she was smiling, and I knew she hadn't taken it personally.

During our makeshift picnic dinner, which I'm pretty sure was just the contents of Carly and Spencer's fridge, we were quiet for the most part, listening to Spencer tell us ridiculous stories. He told us about adventures with Socko, and ideas about sculptures he wanted to make. Many ended in small fires, which didn't surprise any of us.

After we had eaten, Spencer wanted to go collect shells, but none of us wanted to be there if something caught on fire, so he took off on his own, but not before reminding us to remember the fireworks that would be going on later. We decided to walk into town and get ice cream. I hoped that things wouldn't change because Carly was with us. As we made our way across the sand, avoiding all the families, we didn't talk much, because navigating through the blankets, sand castles and umbrellas was not an easy task. We finally made it to the concrete ramp that led to the boardwalk. There were a few ice cream carts on the boardwalk, but we had come here so many times in the past that we knew the good stuff was in town, and it was worth walking to get it.

Carly still seemed a little freaked out by the fact that Sam and I seemed to be getting along. She kept glancing back, probably expecting Sam to have me in a headlock, or something equally as painful. I had to admit that I was still a little wary myself, but after everything that had happened today, I can't say that I'd be surprised if we went home and she pretended like none of it had actually occurred. I hoped that wouldn't be the case though, because as much as I liked fighting with Sam, I liked getting along with her one hundred times better.

We had been walking for a few minutes, not saying much, just enjoying the comfortable silence when Sam decided she was tired of walking. She didn't tell us or anything, she just stopped walking and stood there. Carly turned around to ask her a question and that's when we finally realized she had stopped. As I turned around, she was standing there with a smirk on her face, her head tilted a little to the side. I rolled my eyes, knowing what she wanted, and she shrugged. I couldn't say no, so I just nodded once and she came running at me. I'm sure to Carly, it looked as if she were going to attack me, and her eyes got wide for the second time that day. Someone Sam managed to slow herself down enough to go from looking like a crazed maniac one second, to leaping and landing gracefully on my back the next. Carly stood there looking at us, and I knew by her face that she was wondering just what she had missed all day. We continued walking, and made it to our favorite ice cream place in about fifteen minutes. The line of people waiting was out the door, and Sam stayed on my back until we reached the door. She slid off my back, and I couldn't help but notice that I felt cold. It was a weird feeling, one I had never felt before, and it further cemented my new found realization of how much I really liked the blonde firecracker standing next to me. I felt a pressure on my arm, and looked down to see Sam tugging on it. I laughed, because only two seconds before, a small boy had been doing the same thing to his mother in the line in front of us.

"Fredward, are you gonna buy me my ice cream?" I tried my best to look fed up with her, but she just laughed at me, knowing that I wouldn't say no. Truthfully I had been waiting for that question since we had decided to get ice cream. I had planned on paying regardless, just because I was always paying for Sam's food. I might as well pay for Carly's too, because I didn't want her to start asking questions. Sure, Carly is one of my best friends, but she's also the nosiest person I know. I had only really figured out that I liked Sam a few hours ago. I wasn't ready to blurt everything out to Carly. As we waited in line, inching up every few minutes, I could hear the girls talking about some cute boy Carly had seen while she was on the blanket. I looked over at them, and Carly was excitedly chatting away about how she swore he had smiled at her, but how she was upset that she'd never see him again or something. Sam looked at me and rolled her eyes, obviously bored about what Carly was saying, but she kept listening. That's the thing about Sam. She's abrasive and rude to most people, but when it comes to Carly, she's an angel. She's never hit Carly, not hard at least, she listens when she talks, it's like Carly calms her down or something.

Finally, about ten minutes later, we had made it to the counter to order. Carly got a small cup of some weird ice, which Sam made a face at, I got a milkshake, and of course, Sam got the biggest sundae they had. The sign on the wall advertised that it served 6-8 people, but there was no doubt in my mind that Sam could finish it by herself. It was too big for her to carry, so I handed her my milkshake, and grabbed her sundae and we made our way back through the crowd, luckily finding an empty table. Sam handed me back my milkshake, which felt a lot lighter than it had when I handed it to her, and just smirked at me. She really is the devil.

"Really, Sam? Half the milkshake?"

"Well I had to make sure it wasn't poisoned, Freddork. What if it had been? I would've had to _walk _back to the beach." Of course she would make her being a slob help out her laziness.

"Why do I put up with you, Sam?"

"Because I'm awesome. Duh. You're lucky I put up with you, nerd. At least you've made yourself useful today." We rolled our eyes at each other, and she dug into her ice cream, as if she hadn't eaten in years, let alone half an hour before. She was about halfway done when she looked up at me.

"Hey nub, you've got something on your face." I should have known that it was one of Sam's stupid tricks, and before I could even reach my hand up, I ended up with a spoonful of ice cream all over my face. I wiped some of the ice cream off, trying to clear my vision, only to find her smirking back at me. When we made eye contact, she just grinned and went back to shoveling the ice cream into her mouth. I couldn't even get mad at her. Realizing I had nothing to wipe the rest of the mess off of my face with, I walked back through the line of people, and grabbed napkins off the counter. Once I had managed to remove all traces of Sam's sticky attack, I made my way back to the girls. When I got near them, I saw that they had their heads close together and they were whispering about something. Carly saw me first, and nudged Sam. They both looked up at me and smiled, but I could tell that something was going on. I couldn't help but wondering if they had been talking about me, which of course made me paranoid. I gave them both a questioning look, but they just kept smiling, and Carly shrugged, trying to pass of nonchalance, but it didn't work, because her face was saying something completely different.

Sam finally finished her ice cream, to neither mine nor Carly's surprise, and with a final burp, she threw the bucket out, and hopped onto my back, once again spreading warmth throughout my body as we made our way back to the beach to meet Spencer and wait for the fireworks.


	12. Something's Up

**A/N: I don't own iCarly. This chapter's going to be in Carly's POV, and overlaps last chapter a little bit. Mostly Sam/Carly convo. Enjoy! : )**

_Chapter 12_

_Something's Up_

Freddie walked back into the ice cream shop to get napkins after Sam's attack, and I took that as my opportunity to grill her about what I had missed. I was glad they had each other, because I really did hate sand and salt water. I just wanted to get a tan and stare at cute boys. Something was going on with them, and they weren't telling me. Luckily we had made our 'no secrets' rule after their kiss, so I knew Sam wouldn't be able to hide it from me, no matter how badly she wanted to. Her face was halfway into the bucket that her ice cream had come in, and she had chocolate sauce, and melting ice cream all around her mouth. I knew that the only way I had a chance of getting her attention was to take the ice cream away from her, but I also knew that I was doing it at my own risk. She was known to bite. I waited until the moment was right and I took the bucket away from her. She looked at me with her best 'I'm going to kill you' face, but I knew that she would never hurt me.

"Shay, there better be a damn good reason for you taking my ice cream..." She was almost growling, and it was intimidating, but I needed answers.

"What's going on with you and Freddie?" Her face got a little pinker than it had been before my question, and I had to wonder whether that meant something.

"W-what do you mean? There's nothing going on? How could you even think that there was anything going on with that nub and I?" I rolled my eyes at her, knowing her well enough to know that she was lying. She might fool everyone else, but I can always tell.

"Sam. The two of you have been alone all day. He's been willingly carrying you on his back wherever you go. You haven't beaten him. Something's up, and you're going to tell me right now." Sam's eyes got wide, and she nudged me. I looked where she was staring, and saw that Freddie was heading back towards us. We stopped talking and looked up at him. He was giving us a weird look, and we smiled at him, trying to act like nothing was up, even though there was clearly something going on. I shrugged, and after Sam finished her ice cream, we got up to leave.

Sam hopped on Freddie back, and once again I walked next to them, wondering exactly what had gone on today. I was determined to find out, even if it killed me. As we walked along the boardwalk, back to the beach to meet Spencer for the fireworks, I saw a store that sold dresses, and I pulled on Sam's arm.

"Come in and look with me?" I motioned to the store, laughing when she scrunched up her nose.

"Oh come on! A dress store? Who do you think you're talking to Carly? Ask Freddie." That comment earned her an eye roll from Freddie.

"Stop whining, Puckett, and just go with her." Sam starting grumbling, but she slid of Freddie's back. She started walking towards me, but not before elbowing Freddie in the ribs. Leaving him standing outside the store, doubled over, I grabbed her arm and ran inside.

"Carly, I don't want to look at stupid dresses!" Once we were safely inside, away from Freddie's curious ears, I stopped walking.

"We're not looking for dresses, Sam. I just want to know what's going on between you two. No secrets, remember?" I was really glad that I had made that rule after the kissing incident. It was a surefire way to get information. Granted, I didn't like it when Sam or Freddie used it on me, but it came in very handy when I needed info and I wasn't getting it. There was a bench inside the door, and I sat down, pulling her down with me. "Spill."

"I don't know what you want to hear Carly. It's not like we kissed or anything. We just had a really...nice day. We only fought once, but that's just because he said something I didn't believe, and I said something stupid."

"What'd he say?" Sam got a really uncomfortable look on her face, and it took her a while before she answered me. Even then she was talking slowly.

"Well, we were playing 'This or That,' and I um, well I asked him if he'd rather go on a date with you, or uh, s-spend a day at the beach with me." As soon as she said it, I knew what Freddie's answer had been. "He chose you didn't he?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't know why. I mean, he's in love with you isn't he? Isn't it his life goal to be your second husband?" I laughed at the memory of a younger Freddie promising he'd be my second husband, and that I wouldn't be able to prove what had happened to my first one.

"Sam that was so long ago. Don't you ever think that maybe he's just gotten over that stupid crush of his? Maybe he's moved on. That can't be all that happened though. You're leaving something out." The look on her face confirmed what I suspected.

"Well, I asked him why he thought we fought all the time, and he said he didn't know. He said that maybe it was just our way of dealing with each other. But then, ugh, I don't even know why I said what I did." I waited, knowing that if I said something she'd make excuses and stop talking. With Sam, you just had to let her do it on her own.

"I told him that sometimes fighting leads to more. More than friendship, maybe." I could feel my eyes get wide.

"Sam, are you trying to tell me you like him?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. I just, I don't hate him. That's all."

"Are you sure that's all?" She didn't say anything, and at first I wasn't even sure that she heard my question. Then, slowly, she looked up, and when our eyes met, I saw what she was feeling. She was confused. It was in her eyes, on her face, she was just plain confused. "I don't know. I just, I don't have good luck with guys, Carls. You know that, and I know that. I do trust Freddie, I just don't want him to prove me right, that all guys will hurt me. I feel something, but I don't know what it is. Did you know he's got muscles? The nerd's got muscles. That in itself still baffles me." Sam was back. I just had to think of something to say to her for her to realize that Freddie was a good guy, and that he wouldn't hurt her. She needed someone like him, and even if I never would have thought they could or should be a couple, it made sense on some crazy level.

"Hey, he picked you over me. He was supposed to be _my _second husband. Think about how he must feel about you, if he's willing to give up a date with his future wife just to go to the beach with you." Bingo.

As soon as the words left my mouth, her cheeks turned pink, and a small smile spread across her face. She lowered her head into her hands, and I could see her shoulders shaking. I felt bad, thinking she was crying, but I finally realized that she was laughing. She looked up and just shook her head.

"How ridiculous is this? How is it possible that I feel this way about a nerd? Sure he's got some muscles, but still. Fredward Benson? What am I gonna do, Carls? Why is this happening to me? Do you think I'm going crazy??" I grabbed her shoulders, trying to get her to calm down.

"Slow down, Sam. First of all, no I don't think you're crazy. I think it's okay to be scared, even if it is Freddie. You just have to believe that he's better than all the others. I think he is."

"You're right, Carls. So what am I supposed to do now? I don't know how to handle this chiz!" Luckily, I'm an expert.

"You just have to be you, Sam. Maybe a little nicer, but whatever you've been doing today is obviously working for you so-" I'm interrupted by Freddie, who chose that moment to stick his head in the door.

"Can we go back to the beach? I'm bored and there's a hobo outside and he's making me nervous..." Sam and I laugh, knowing how Freddie feels about hobos, and we get up to leave. I wrap my arm around Sam's shoulders and give her a reassuring squeeze, hoping that she can tell what I'm trying to say without actually saying it. I really want her to be happy, and if it means being with Freddie, then who am I to stop her? Once we're outside, I nudge her towards him, but this time she doesn't hop on his back, and I can't help but notice the dissapointed look on Freddie's face. Definitely a good sign.


	13. Lost in Thought

**A/N: I don't own iCarly. Back to Freddie's POV. I want to apologize in advance for this chapter, because I think it's really awkward, and no matter how many times I tried to rewrite it, it just wouldn't get better. It's mostly a filler for the good stuff that's going to happen in the next few chapters. Hopefully no one will be too upset =\ **

_Chapter 13_

_Lost in Thought_

The store that Carly had dragged Sam into was about halfway in between the beach and the ice cream shop. It was going to take us longer to get back then it had to get there, because of the popularity of the fireworks. The boardwalk was twice as crowded as it had been, which was unfortunately going to be the case for the beach as well. It was going to be a nightmare finding our blanket, and even harder to find Spencer, given his erratic behavior. I wasn't really sure why Sam and Carly had just been sitting in the store, and not looking at anything, but I figured it was just another one of those weird girl things that I would never understand. I was just glad to get away from that hobo. He was looking at me funny. The girls came out of the store a few seconds after I had, and I had to admit that I was really dissapointed when I didn't feel the familiar weight of Sam's body on my back. The girls began to walk, but I let them go ahead of me, keeping myself a few steps behind. I couldn't help but notice that I felt cold, but it wasn't because of the breeze from the ocean. It was because the blonde she devil wasn't on my back. I had grown so used to the familiar weight on my back that I felt as if a part of me was missing. As I watched the girls, I could see them whispering, and Carly kept nudging Sam. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but whatever Carly was saying, it didn't look like Sam was happy about it.

I was starting to get really worried. Whatever Carly was saying to Sam seemed to make her more and more agitated, and I couldn't help but be upset, because when Sam gets angry, she takes it out on me, and after all the progress I had made I was going to be really mad if Carly ruined it. It wasn't often that I got to be around Sam when she didn't want to inflict bodily harm upon me. Today had been one of the greatest days of my life, and it might all be ruined, just because Carly had to go and open her big mouth. I must have been really deep in thought about everything, because I jumped when I felt a tug on my arm.

"Earth to Freddie..." Carly was standing next to me, looking up at me like I had three heads.

"What?" It came out sharper than I had wanted, but I was so caught up in the fact that she was making Sam mad that I wasn't being rational.

"I said your name like ten times...I just wanted to know if you wanted anything from the store before we attempt to find Spencer and our blanket. Sam needs some fireworks ham, and I need more Pepi Cola, or I'll fall asleep." I shook my head, too worried about Sam reverting back to her old ways. "Okay, well you two can stay out here. I'll be right back."

Carly hurried into the small convenience store, leaving me and the crazy blonde alone again. There was an unoccupied bench in front of the store, and Sam threw herself down on it. I wasn't sure what to do next, so I just stood there, kicking at the ground with the toe of my shoe. I didn't want to sit down, and face my chances that the old Sam was back, because I would end up on the ground, or worse, in a sleeper hold. The sound of her voice brought me back down to Earth a few seconds later.

"Are you going to sit, Freducation? Or are your shoes more interesting than me?" When I looked over at her, there was a slight smirk on her face, and I knew that usually meant she was planning something, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. I sat down, not to close though, knowing my limits. I focused my attention back to my shoes, because I was still having doubts about everything that had happened today. Why all of a sudden was I thinking about Sam this way? Maybe I was going crazy. That had to be it. Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed one of my sneakers, yanking my leg up at an uncomfortable angle.

"Sam! What are you doing?" I looked over at the demon, and the smirk was even bigger.

"I was just wondering what was on your sneakers that made them so much more interesting than Mama. " Her eyes had that sparkle in them that she gets when she makes fun of me, and I won't lie, that chill from this morning came back.

"Well, did you wanna talk or something?" My question must have startled her, because she dropped my foot, and I couldn't help but notice that her cheeks seemed to get a little color. It made me smile, because it wasn't often that I was able to fluster Sam. Maybe all hope wasn't lost after all.

"I don't know, I guess. All I know is Mama's bored, and I decided that it's your job to entertain me, so get on with it nub."

"You want _me _to entertain you? The one who you're always complaining about for being _soo _boring?" That comment earned me an elbow to the ribs, but she started smiling.

"You know I'm kidding nub. You're not so bad when you aren't being a nerd. I mean, I've only had the urge to beat you a few times. Usually it's a constant thing." I rolled my eyes at her, and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"You sure know how to make a guy feel special, Sam."

"I know, Freddifer. It's a gift." There was a small lull in the conversation, and I wanted to know what Carly had said that was making Sam upset, so I took a chance and asked.

"So...what happened back in the store? You seemed kind of off when you came out." The color came back into her cheeks, and I knew I had struck something.

"N-nothing, she was just talking about some stupid boy, you know, the usual Carly chiz..." I knew she wasn't telling me the truth, but before I could ask another question, Carly came out of the store, ruining my chances of ever knowing. I guess today's just not my day. Before we could head back to the beach, we got delayed, because Sam wanted her ham, and Carly told her she had to wait until we got back to the blanket. There were words exchanged, and in the end, Sam ended up with the ham, munching happily on her favorite meat product. I turned to go, but not before I realized that Carly and Sam were whispering again. I tried not to make it obvious that I was trying to eavesdrop but I noticed that Carly kept looking at me. I can't help but think that maybe they're talking about me, and now I'm even more curious. I feel like I'm about to explode. They finally broke apart from their little secret meeting, and starting walking without another word. All I could do was shake my head. I really need to find more guy friends. Girls are just way too confusing. Before we got too far, Sam turned around to face me, walking backwards.

"We don't bite, you know. You can walk with us if you want..." Definitely not something Sam would usually say to me, but I knew that if I wanted her to think of me as something more, I had to take what I could get. I sped up a little bit, once again thankful for puberty, and the fact that my legs were now much longer than the girls'. We didn't say much as we walked back to the beach. Sam was still eating her ham, and I was scared what would happen when she was done, but I tried not to think about it too much. Carly had her Pepi Cola, and I had my thoughts. I needed to do something to get Sam to tell me how she really felt. I just wasn't sure what.

**Once again I apologize, because I'm really not happy with this chapter, and it's frustrating me. Let me know what you think **


	14. This or That

**A/N: I don't own iCarly. Sam's POV, tiny bit of overlap. **

_Chapter 14_

_This or That_

I really have to stop blushing in front of the nub. It's getting ridiculous. All he did was ask if I wanted to talk, and I'm turning as pink as ham! At least I can still manage a few jabs at him in this embarrassed state of mine.

"So...what happened back in the store? You seemed kind of off when you came out." Once again, I can feel the blood rush back into my face.

"N-nothing, she was just talking about some stupid boy, you know, the usual Carly chiz..." Great, now he's got me blushing _and _stuttering. What is this world coming to? It wasn't a stupid boy though, it was him. How am I supposed to tell him that though? I know he can tell I'm lying, but I don't know what else to say. I can't very well tell the nub that I admitted to Carly only minutes before that I might have feelings other than hate for him...can I? Today's been pretty awesome, being with Fredward and not fighting with him or anything, but I'm just so confused about everything. Sure, the nerd's got some muscles now, and he may have eyes the same color as pudding, which happens to be one of my favorite foods, but does that make up for all his dorky qualities? Why is it that I've never realized any of these things about him before today? Stupid hormones and nubs. I'm going crazy. That's gotta be it. I still don't have anything to tell the dork, because he didn't believe my first lie. Technically it was only half a lie, but...Thank Ham for Carly Shay! I knew there was a reason she was my best friend. The girl has some good timing.

Before I can stutter through another excuse, she emerges from the store with my precious ham, and pulls me to the side.

"Are you being nice?" I shrug, because I'm not sure if grabbing his shoe is nice or not. I haven't called him any names though, so maybe I am being nice. I can see Freddie out of the corner of my eye, and he's trying to be sneaky and listen to what we're saying, but the boy clearly doesn't have my invisible ninja skills. He has so much to learn.

"I guess, I haven't insulted him too badly since you've been gone, but I still don't know what to do, Carls. I'm not a pro like you are..." She responds by shaking her head, but I can see the smug look on her face, and I know she took it as a compliment.

"If I told you I had an idea, would you go with it?" I narrow my eyes, knowing that her plans involving boys are usually ridiculous, but at this point I'll do anything to figure out whatever craziness is going on in my head. "I'm listening..."

"Well, I figured with the fireworks and everything, we're going to be on the blanket, and we'll sit down next to each other, and see who Freddie sits next to. It'll be like 'This or That,' only 'Carly or Sam,' and he'll never know."

I'll admit, it's one of her more sane plans of action, so I nod once, quickly, just in case the nerd is onto us. It can't make things any worse or more confusing then they already are, right?

She hands me the ham, and grabs my arm, and we're on our way. I can't help but notice that Freddie's walking behind us again, so I turn around to face him.

"We don't bite, you know. You can walk with us if you want..." He speeds up a little, but I can see the uneasy look on his face, and I wish I could read his mind. I wish I could just dive into that nerdy brain of his and see if he's feeling the same strange feelings that I've been feeling since I got on his back this morning.

When we got to the spot where the boardwalk met the beach, the ham was gone, and I didn't feel like walking.

"Fredwardo?" He looked down at me, a knowing look in his chocolate eyes.

"Get on," he said, and there was a slight smirk on his face worthy of my own. At least he learned from the best. He bent down so I could climd on, and I tried not to hurt him, because I knew that wouldn't help anything. Once I was settled, I rested my chin on the top of his head, and I couldn't help but think to myself that I could get used to this. I guess we'll see once Carly and I play 'This or That.' Speaking of Carly, she's giving me her 'I told you so' look, and I know that she's very happy with herself at this point. She turns away, but I can still see the smile plastered across her face. Freddie and Carly trudge through the sand for close to twenty minutes, and I designate myself as the lookout girl. I've always thought that if being an invisible ninja doens't work out, I could always turn to pirating. I steal most of Freddie's things anyways. Finally, I see our blanket, the charred remains of the purple dinotube, and Spencer himself, sorting through a large bucket of shells. We're all relieved because none of us wanted to search for him on top of the blanket. Not that I would have gone, but it saves Carly and Freddie the work.

Spencer's pretty involved in his shells, but looks up when he realizes we're standing there staring at him.

"Hey, kiddos! Like my shells? I only managed to catch on fire once! It was awesome." It's a good thing we're used to Spencer, because he has a tendency to ramble, and it's exhausting. "Freddo, do you think you could help me carry this to the car before the fireworks?"

I groan, knowing Freddie will do the right thing, and knowing that this means I need to get off his back. He nods, playing Sir Nubs-a-Lot, the Valiant Nerd. He lets go of my legs, and I reluctantly slide off. It's as if I can still feel his fingers on my skin, the slight pressure caused by his warm hands. As he walks around to the large bucket, and grabs the handle across from Spencer. As he lifts the bucket, I can the see the newly revealed muscles flexing ever so slightly, and I feel a slight shiver run through my body. Who would have ever thought that the nerd could do things like that to me? Before today I wouldn't have believe it myself. He looks up for a second and smiles at me, and I try to control the color in my cheeks, but at this point it's useless. I smile back, and I see a slight sparkle in his brown eyes that I can't believe I've never seen before. With a final 'Adios!,' my nerd in shining armor heads off with a bucket of shells, leaving me here with Carly to worry.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Freddie made you blush," she says, that smile returning to her face. I throw myself down on the blanket, burying my face into the soft fabric.

"I don't wanna hear it, Shay." I mumble through the blanket, knowing the smile is still plastered across her face. I feel the blanket shift slightly as she lowers herself down next to me. She starts poking me in the side until I finally roll over and look up at her.

"You liiiiike him. All he did was smile, and you turned into a puddle of goo!"

"You think that's a good thing? It makes me wanna vomit! I'm so nervous I'm not even thinking of ham right now!" It's true. At the moment I'm not craving ham, and it's the first time something as ridiculous as this has happened since I started eating solid food. Carly's eyes widen at my statement, and suddenly I realize just how serious this whole thing with Fredward is. "What happens if he chooses you, Carls? What am I supposed to do then? Sure, it's not like I'm in love with the kid, I mean, I wasn't even aware I felt this way until today. What happens when he sits next to you?" I almost feel like crying, but then I remember that I'm Sam Puckett, and Sam Puckett doesn't cry. Stupid Freddork, he's messing with my mind.

"Sam, he's not going to sit next to me. That smile that turned you into goo was the kind of smile he used to give me. There's no way he's going to pick you over me."

"I sure hope you know your chiz, Carls."

"Trust me. I'm the pro, remember?" I nod, and lay back, staring at the quickly darkening sky. "So. Tell me about all these hot beach boys you saw today..." Truth be told, I don't really want to hear about stupid boys, but I need something to take my mind off the dork until he comes back, and Carly can talk about boys for days. All I need are a few minutes. She begins rambling, as I suspected, and I give her my thoughts every so often, but at the same time, I'm sweeping my eyes across the beach, looking for that certain brown eyed nub that I want all to myself.

Carly's in the middle of a story about a blonde boy with a surf board when my eyes settle on two familiar faces.

"They're back!" I hiss at Carly, trying my best to keep it together, but failing miserable. She doesn't respond, but just stares at me, trying to get me to calm down, and get a grip. I would smack myself in the face if it weren't so obvious, but right now, I'll have to settle for deep breathing. Spencer flops into his chair, letting out a loud groan, and Freddie walks over to Carly and I, smiles, and sits down.

**I'm sorry, but I had to end with a cliffhanger! The fireworks are going to be the next chapter, and this was the only place that I could make a clean break. The next chapter should be up tomorrow, so I won't keep you waiting too long. Thanks for reading : )**


	15. Fireworks

**A/N: I don't own iCarly. Freddie's POV. Finally, fireworks time! Little bit of fluff, but hopefully not too much. Sorry to make everyone wait, I know I said it'd be up yesterday, but I wanted to make sure it was perfect.**

_Chapter 15_

_Fireworks_

When Spencer asked me if I wanted to help him carry the bucket of shells to the car, I figured this was my chance to get girl advice from the one guy I could trust. Too bad I forgot that the only advice he could give me was to stare into the girls eyes. If I tried that with Sam, she would just tell me to stop staring and punch me. I always forget that Spencer goes through girlfriends as fast as Sam goes through hams. This is one of the times I wish I had a good guy friend, or a father figure, but I guess I'm just going to have to wing it and hope the whole thing doesn't blow up in my face. We didn't say much on the way to the car, or on the way back, but Spencer definitely knows that something's going on. He has the decency to keep it to himself though. Navigating through the crowds is different without Sam on my back. It's easier, because me by myself is less bulky, and I don't have to worry about hitting anyone with Sam, but at the same time, I get that weird feeling again that a part of me is missing.

It takes us a little less time to get back to the blanket, and as we get closer, I watch the two girls who I've grown up with, gone through a lot with, and I realize just how much we've all changed, and how much has changed between us. Sure, it sounds sentimental and stupid, but it's true. There was a time when I was in love with Carly, Sam wouldn't say a word to me, and Carly actually liked playing in the sand with Sam and I. Things are just different now, but I'm okay with it. As we get closer, I can see Carly talking, gesturing wildly with her hands, and I know she's talking about a boy. One look at the bored expression on Sam's face, and I know my guess is correct. Her eyes are rolling so much that I'm afraid they'll pop out of their sockets. She's looking all around and when she settled on Spencer and I, she turned back to Carly. I'm not exactly sure what was going on, but if I was going to do anything, it had to be done now, before I chickened out.

I take a deep breath before I continue walking, and Spencer throws himself down into his beach chair, almost knocking the chair over. I smile at my best friends, and I can't help but think again just how different things are these days. Carly returns my smile, and Sam raises her eyebrows, which I can only assume is meant to be a greeting. When I sit down next to her though, she turns to Carly and pulls her close, whispering some more. This whole whispering thing is getting old, and once again I'm reminded of how I really need to get some guy friends. Girls are just too complicated.

They're still whispering and I can't take it anymore, so I lay back on the blanket, staring up at the sky. There's a few stars out, but not as many as I usually see out on the fire escape. I spend a lot more time out there then my mother would like, but it's nice to have somewhere to go when I need to think. It's a lot louder here then on the fire escape too, but I try to tune it out. The night gets darker by the minute, and pretty soon I can barely see the three people who have become more like family to me than friends. Carly and Sam whispered to each other for awhile, but finally a single spark shoots through the air, exploding in the sky, and the whispering stops. We've been coming to the beach long enough to know that the single firework was the five minute warning for the actual fireworks. Spencer had been perched on the edge of his chair, but as the firework was shot, he got so excited that the chair folded, closing over him. He's now pretty tangled, but none of us really want to help him. He's gotten himself out of worse things, and I'm sure he'll be able to handle himself.

The girls, finally quiet, had laid down on their backs too, mirroring my position. I could feel the heat radiating off Sam's body, but we weren't close enough to touch. If I had any courage at all, I would reach over and grab her hand, but I was frozen. I was such a coward that I couldn't even hold her hand. I snuck a glance at her out of the corner of my eye, but her head was turned and she was listening to something that Carly was mumbling. What could I possibly do to show her what I'm feeling. I can't just come out and tell her, it's not the kind of thing she'd like. I can't kiss her, she'd kick me in the place that should never be kicked. It figures that I'm having these feelings for Sam, the most complicated and violent girl on Earth. Some people have bad luck with girls, but me? I just have no luck. I wish I wasn't such a nerd...

The fireworks started exactly five minutes after that lone spark, and soon the sky was filled with color, completely cancelling out the stars. I was still wrestling with my emotions and feelings towards the blonde headed demon next to me when Sam rolled over from talking to Carly to stare at the sky. When she settled down, instead of feeling just the heat from her body, the entire right side of her body was touching the left side of mine. The buzzing from earlier was back with a vengeance. It feels like I'm on fire, but in a good way, if there is one. And then, just as quickly as it had come, it was gone as she moved a little to her left. I felt my whole body slump, if that's possible while laying down.

"S-sorry, Fredwardo..." I tried to mumble something that could pass as an okay, but I'm not really sure if anything even came out. I can feel her eyes still on me, so I take a deep breath and look over at her, and she smiles. I can see the fireworks reflected in her eyes, and I realize that I really do want to kiss her, but I know I can't. I smile back as best I can, hoping I don't look like a creep, and then drag my eyes away from her to stare back at the sky. Watching the sky, I realize that fireworks are a perfect way to describe what I've been feeling when Sam touches me. It's like small, powerful explosions.

All of a sudden, there's a slight pressure on my pinky, and when I lift my head slightly, I see Sam's pinky wound around mine. This can't be happening. I squeeze my eyes shut, knowing it's probably a dream, but when I open them and look down, it's still there. By now, I'm sure there's a goofy smile plastered on my face, but as I sneak another peek at Sam, the same smile is etched across her face, and I feel less like a geek. I can't help but realize that it's the second time today that we've been attached at the pinkies, only this time, it means something different. It means so much more. I squeeze my eyes shut again, trying to convince myself this time that it's real, that Sam had consciously looped her pinky through mine.

My eyes are still shut, only now I'm listening to the fireworks exploding over the beach, while I feel the sparks rippling through my body. I get a burst of courage, and flip my hand over, threading my fingers through hers, and once again I'm realize how small and delicate her hand is. I'm almost afraid her hand will get lost in mine. The floodgate of sparks has burst, and now I feel the buzzing from the tips of my toes all the way up to my 'nerd-cut' as Sam calls it. I can feel the shiver run down Sam's arm, and I let out a short laugh, happy that she really is feeling the same thing I am.

I'm not sure what any of this means right now. She might wake up tomorrow and decide that today was all a mistake, and that if I ever tried to hold her hand again, she'd break it off. All I know is that when I woke up this morning, and you told me that by the end of the day, I'd be holding hands with Samantha Puckett, I would've laughed in your face.

The fireworks are still exploding, colors all around, but to be honest, I could care less. All I'm focused on right now is Sam's warm hand in mine, and how right it feels. I always used to think it would be this way if Carly decided she loved me. The whole 'sparks flying, can't breathe, seeing stars' kind of thing. And here I was holding hands with the girl who had gone from an enemy to a frienemy, to my best friend, and now, maybe she would be something more.

**Well, there it is...hope no one was dissapointed. Only one more chapter left =( **


	16. Leaving

**A/N: I don't own iCarly. I now present the final chapter of Beach Weather. Sorry that it's taken so long to publish, but I've been trying to make sure it's as good as it can be for you guys. It's fluffy, and full of Seddie goodness, although I'm super sad it's done : ( Freddie's POV**

_Chapter 16_

_Leaving_

I still can't believe that I'm laying here at the beach holding hands with Sam Puckett. It feels like something out of a dream; a dream that I probably would have considered a nightmare 24 hours ago. Now it feels right somehow, almost natural. Something happened today between Sam and I that I can't explain. Something changed between us, and even though I can't for the life of me figure out what it was, I'm really glad it did. Before today I would have told you that you were certifiably insane if you tried to convince me I'd be having feelings other than friendship towards Sam. The only other girl I've felt like this about was Carly, but even that was different. Maybe it's because Sam isn't rejecting me, which is the most surprising thing of all, but something about this just feels more real.

The fireworks that lit up the sky began to slow, before surging into the grand finale. When the colors disappeared, leaving behind only a thick layer of gray smoke along the beach, people started to scurry around us, desperate to beat everyone else to their cars. The four of us knew better. It was much easier to get out if you waited a while and let the traffic thin. I couldn't say I minded though. I wasn't nearly ready to let go of Sam's small, warm hand.

I wasn't really sure what would happen when we left the beach. Maybe things would stay like they had been today, maybe they would go right back to how they were yesterday. We've been frienemies for as long as we've known each other, but what happens now? So much had happened today, and if it had been any other girl, I wouldn't have been nervous. I would've been pretty confident that she did in fact feel _something _towards me. This is Sam we're talking about though. She has an obsession with meat, and the world's fattest priest. Her favorite thing to do is find new ways to make fun of me or cause me bodily harm. We've fought as long as we've known each other, and now here we are, holding hands at the beach. I feel like I'm stuck in the Twilight Zone. I have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow, or even tonight for that matter, but I think I like it. I think it's one of the things that draws me to Sam. She's just so...unpredictable, and maybe that's what I need in my life. She's independent, she doesn't care what other people think, and she's tougher than any guy I know. That part of her scares the crap out of me, always has. But being with her now makes me see the other side of her, the vulnerable side that she denies vehemently, and I can't help but love that part of her. It makes her seem more human.

The smoke begins to clear, and the four of us are still where we were during the fireworks. I turn my head a little and sneak a peek at Sam. She's turned towards Carly, but I can still make out her profile in the dim blue light of the moon. I'm starting to wonder if she even realizes we're still holding hands. I'm not really sure where the sudden burst of courage came from, but I started to draw small circles on Sam's thumb with mine. And then I got an elbow in the ribs.

I squeezed my eyes shut, sucking in a deep breath, and when I finally caught my breath, I opened my eyes and saw blue. Sam was staring down at me, laughing quietly, and even though it was dark, I could see her eyes sparkling.

"Seriously?" I was starting to breathe normally, and she was still laughing. She turned her body so we were facing each other. She brought her hand up and rubbed the spot that she had previously elbowed, and I was surprised by the gentle nature of it. It was definitely not something Sam would normally do.

"Sorry, Fredward. It tickled a little. It was just a reflex." She smiled, a real smile, and I couldn't help myself. I smiled back, momentarily forgetting my pain, and her hand went from my side to my head, ruffling my hair. She gave my hand a little squeeze, and turned back to Carly. I couldn't hear what they were talking about but I wasn't all that interested in knowing. My mind was going a mile a minute, reliving my day at the beach with the girl who lived to make my life hell. I'm not really sure how long I was laying there thinking about Sam before Spencer's voice brought me back to reality.

"Let's go, kiddos! I've got sand in my shorts, and the sooner we get home, the sooner I can take care of my issue." I didn't have to look at my two best friends to know that they were rolling their eyes. Sometimes it was hard to take Spencer seriously, and most times I found myself forgetting that he was older than us.

Sam slipped her hand out of mine, and I felt that awful sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach return. Maybe this was stupid, maybe I was rushing into something. Sure, she had held my hand, but was that really a big thing, or was I overreacting? I sat up, wrapping my arms around my knees, and stared out at the ocean, hoping for some sign to point me in the right direction. For once, the universe didn't let me down. After a few seconds, I felt a tug on my arm, and looked down to see Sam holding my arm, looking at me with a weird look on her face.

"You okay, nub?" It was the weird combination of concern and her usual attitude that made me nervous. I made the lethal mistake of making eye contact with her, and whatever I was planning on saying got stuck in my throat. This really was weirder than I had originally thought.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking, I guess." She nodded, and I realized that she probably had a lot on her mind too.

"Today's been pretty weird, hasn't it?" Staring down at her, and her thin arm wrapped around my arm, all I could do was nod. I reached up cautiously, and put my hand on hers. I took a deep breath before I spoke.

"Definitely weird. A good weird though..." My voice drifted off, and I wasn't quite sure how to finish the thought, but Sam seemed to understand, and nodded in agreement. She smirked a little bit, and her normally bright eyes sparkled, sending an odd shiver down my spine.

"What?"

"I don't know, Freddork. I was just thinking about how weird this chiz is, you know? Who would've thought that I would voluntarily hold hands with a nerd?" I rolled my eyes at her, and she rolled hers right back at me.

"Well, Princess Puckett, it's not like this isn't weird for me too. This is the first time since, well since the fire escape..." Her eyes narrowed as I brought up the memory. "It's the first time you've really touched me without inflicting bodily harm." That made her laugh, and she looked out at the water. She bit down on her lower lip, and even from the side I could see the thoughtful look on her face.

"You do have a point there Freducation." Carly's voice behind us broke whatever moment we were having, and Sam dropped her arm so we could turn around and look at her.

"You guys kinda need to get off the blanket before we can go home..." She laughed, and I could feel my cheeks getting hot, thankful that it was dark out. I picked myself up and held my hand out to help Sam up, even though I knew she'd have a rude comment for me, about how she could handle herself. She rolled her eyes at me, but there was no comment, and she grabbed my hand. I dragged her up, and decided to be reckless. I pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her, wanting to feel those sparks again. My plan worked, and soon I was buzzing from head to toe. Sam's arms wound around my waist, and I was almost expecting a wedgie, her usual attack, but her hands remained clasped together, unmoving. I looked up, and Carly was smiling at me. She definitely knew something. Maybe she was just happy I wasn't obsessing over her, I'm not sure. Either way, nothing was going to top how good I felt at that moment.

Carly folded the blanket and shoved it into her bag, and Sam and I finally pulled apart from each other. The buzzing had subsided, but I was feeling a little punch drunk from being that close to her for that long. Spencer was no where to be found, and we all assumed that he had probably raced back to the car to cut down on the time he had sand in his shorts. We started making our way back to the boardwalk, the remnants of the fireworks spread across the cool sand. Sam was walking next to me, Carly in front of us, and I looked over at Sam. She had a small smile on her face, one that I don't think I was supposed to see. It was part of her vulnerable side, and I wasn't about to have her catch me and revert to abrasive Sam.

We finally made it back to the boardwalk, and I grabbed Sam's arm. She stopped walking and looked up at me, a questioning look in her eyes.

"Want a ride?" Her nose scrunched up, and she had her thinking face on. After a few seconds, she shook her head. "Nah, I'm good Freddifer."

I shrugged and we started walking, bumping into each other. I took advantage of our closeness and grabbed her hands, lacing our fingers together, and looked at her, making sure it was okay. I may have been feeling reckless a few minutes ago, but I didn't have a death wish. Sam looked up at me and smiled, and I knew it was safe. We walked all the way back to the car and found Spencer jumping around.

"Hey guys! Just trying to get some sand out! Everyone ready? Okay, lets go!" He didn't wait for any answers before jumping into the front seat. Carly got into the passenger seat, leaving Sam and I in the back again. I opened the door, and she got in first, squeezing my hand once before letting go. I walked around to the other side and got in, surprised to find Sam in the middle seat, next to me.

"Hey." She was staring up at me, smiling, and once again, I couldn't help but smile back at her. "Hey, yourself Princess Puckett."

Spencer turned the key in the ignition and the car came to life. As we left the parking lot, and drove away from the beach, Sam slid over closer to me, wrapping her arm around my stomach and putting her head in the crook of my neck. I knew I was smiling like an idiot, but as I put my arm around her and pulled her even closer, I could feel her own smile grow. Maybe it was just the beach that brought Sam and I closer, maybe it was something bigger. Things could change when we get back home, and something like this could never happen again. The only thing I know for sure is that right now, at this very moment, there's no where else I'd rather be.

**This was so cheesy and OOC,and I apologize for that. On the other hand, It's done! I'm sad it's over, and happy at the same time. Thank you so, so much to everyone who's reviewed. You make me smile : ) On a side note, writing this has inspired an idea. I'm writing a future fic sequel to Beach Weather, should be up within a week or so.**


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